ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bats: Ecology

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department issues on the qualifications required of a bat ecologist; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: We do not hold numbers on bat ecologists but there are currently just over 800 volunteer bat workers. Volunteer bat workers who provide advice on Natural England's behalf receive training from experienced bat specialists. The Bat Conservation Trust provides a service to Natural England in supporting these trainers. In addition they receive written guidance and instructions.

Batteries: Recycling

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government have taken to increase levels of recycling of batteries.

Joan Ruddock: We are currently consulting on the transposition of the EU batteries directive. When transposed, the directive will reduce the quantity of hazardous and non-hazardous waste batteries going to landfill and increase the recovery of the materials they contain. Collection targets set by the directive for portable batteries are 25 per cent. by 2012, rising to 45 per cent. by 2016. The prohibition of incinerating or landfilling industrial and automotive batteries implies a 100 per cent. collection and recycling target for industrial and automotive batteries.
	The consultation is due to close on 14 March and the UK, along with all other member states, has a deadline of 26 September this year to transpose the directive's provisions into national law.
	Research and trials to provide evidence for the consultation and to investigate the best ways of implementing the batteries directive have been carried out on portable batteries. The waste and resources action programme (WRAP) is currently working in partnership with a range of local authorities and not-for-profit organisations that already run recycling collection services to pilot portable waste battery collection trials in the UK. Trials include establishing 'drop off' points at places such as supermarkets, as well as other methods of collection including at the kerbside.
	Supported by funding from DEFRA through the business resource efficiency and waste (BREW) programme and the devolved administrations, the trials form part of a wider effort to develop cost-effective ways for the UK to meet the targets of the batteries directive.
	The results of the various trials will be used to help Government identify the best mechanisms and most efficient methods of collecting batteries in line with directive targets.

Carbon Emissions

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide emissions have been offset by the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund in each year since its creation.

Phil Woolas: The Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF) offset 120,111.42 tonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide emissions in 2006-07.

Departmental Marketing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many plastic bags  (a) his Department and  (b) the Waste Resources Action Programme has purchased in the last 24 months for which figures are available; and at what cost.

Joan Ruddock: The core-Department purchases in the region of 4,100 clear plastic bags per month, for both recycling and under-desk bins. This totals some 98,400 bags over 24 months, at a cost of £6,000.
	WRAP's purchases of plastic bags in the last 24 months are:
	
		
			  Type of bag  Number purchased in last 24 months 
			 Plastic carrier bags 0 
			 Kitchen bin liners 2,500 
			 Zip-lock reusable plastic sample bags(1) 15,000 
			 Biodegradable liners for home composting 4,000 
			 Biodegradable liners for food waste collections 2,000 
			 (1) The zip-lock reusable plastic sample bags have been used at various public exhibitions to give out samples of green waste-derived compost, containing a flower bulb suitable for planting in a domestic garden, in order to demonstrate that green waste-derived compost is a good growing medium. After use for this primary purpose, these bags could be re-used for other purposes in the home or garden. 
		
	
	Information on the WRAP's costs of purchase could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Energy: Conservation

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on steps the Government are taking to improve domestic energy efficiency.

Phil Woolas: We regularly meet ministerial colleagues to discuss domestic energy efficiency and its contribution to the climate change agenda. The Secretary of State met the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on issues including this in mid- December. Progress against our domestic climate change and energy security objectives is reviewed by Cabinet Ministers though the Economic Development (Environment and Energy) Committee, chaired by the Chancellor.

Floods: Yorkshire and the Humber

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what Flood Defence Budget has been allocated to Yorkshire and the Humber for  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11.

Phil Woolas: The indicative allocation for the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee which covers Yorkshire and the north bank of the Humber estuary is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Allocation (£ million) 
			 2008-09 43.4 
			 2009-10 51 
			 2010-11 58.2 
		
	
	Allocations are from the Environment Agency to the Regional Flood Defence Committee.
	These figures do not include funding for local authorities or internal drainage boards.
	The Department will be seeking promotional activity on these figures to reassure the public.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Expenditure

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government have spent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in each year since 1997, broken down by main components of expenditure in each year.

Phil Woolas: A full response to this question could be made at disproportionate cost only.

Heathrow Airport: Sustainable Development

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what role his Department had in relation to the project for the sustainable development of Heathrow; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he made representations to the Department for Transport in relation to the project for sustainable development of Heathrow airport; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Ministers and officials in DEFRA engage regularly with colleagues at the Department for Transport on matters relating to Heathrow which affect DEFRA lead policy responsibilities: notably on air quality, noise, and climate change impacts. DEFRA officials were engaged in the project for sustainable development of Heathrow modelling work in relation to air quality, and have been involved in the noise, air quality and climate change elements of the subsequent development of the public consultation on the development of Heathrow.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of Warm Front assessors' recommendations have led to work being carried out  (a) in Nottinghamshire,  (b) Bassetlaw and  (c) England.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 10 January 2008
	The percentage of instances where an insulation measure recommended by a Warm Front assessor leads to the work being completed is as follows.
	
		
			  Insulation 
			  Area  Proportion (percentage) 
			 Nottinghamshire 79.5 
			 Bassetlaw 80.5 
			 England 80.3 
		
	
	The percentage of instances where a heating measure recommended by a Warm Front assessor leads to assistance being provided, including where this only involves an installer technical survey being completed, is as follows:
	
		
			  Heating 
			  Area  Proportion (percentage) 
			 Nottinghamshire 96.7 
			 Bassetlaw 94.2 
			 England 96.1 
		
	
	Available data do not identify figures for the proportion of instances where a recommendation for heating assistance leads to a heating measure being installed or the repair of an existing system being completed. Further analysis of the data is taking place.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: Conflict of Interests

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has taken to prevent a conflict of interest arising from the managing agents of the Warm Front scheme owning the contractor Iguana Services Ltd.

Phil Woolas: DEFRA employ independent quality assessors who audit the performance of both Iguana and eaga plc. This ensures that Iguana's position as a subsidiary of eaga does not adversely affect scheme delivery.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: Standards

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received from recipients of assistance under the Warm Front programme in relation to the performance of contractors; what steps he has taken in response; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on 14 January 2008,  Official Report, column 861W.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: Standards

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the performance of eaga and its subsidiaries in operating the Warm Front programme; and what plans he has to review the operation of  (a) the programme and  (b) its commercial contractors.

Phil Woolas: DEFRA monitors the performance of Warm Front as part of an ongoing monthly reporting cycle.
	DEFRA also employs independent quality assessors, who provide in-depth analysis of the performance of Warm Front contractors, both as part of a regular audit cycle, and on an individual project basis where required.

Labour Party: Elections

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he  (a) informed the Permanent Secretary of the relevant Department of the donations he received as part of his campaign for the deputy leadership of the Labour party and  (b) registered them with the Cabinet Office in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Hilary Benn: In accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, a list of Ministers' relevant interests declared to their Permanent Secretary will be published in due course.

Waste Disposal: Fees and Charges

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates have been made of whether the proposed new charges for domestic rubbish collection are expected to increase or decrease the total tax burden on families with children.

Joan Ruddock: There are no proposed new charges for domestic rubbish collection. The Government intend to allow five local authorities to pilot waste incentive schemes. Under these schemes those who make the most effort to reduce or recycle their waste would earn a rebate. For schemes which include a charging element, those throwing away the most residual waste could pay more. The impact on families with children could depend on several factors, including the design of individual schemes, the size of the household and, of course, the amount of waste each family throws away.
	DEFRA has not made any estimates of how waste incentive schemes will affect families with children. For illustrative purposes, the Impact Assessment, which is available on the DEFRA website, presented a distributional analysis which gives an example of how one type of scheme, in a local authority with particular characteristics, would impact upon families of different sizes and income levels. This assesses how financial transfers might feel to different types of households, with poorer households valuing these more highly. It does not present actual financial flows, as it was primarily included to show local authorities how they might account for impacts of the distribution of financial burdens.
	The actual impact on the tax burden faced by families will depend on how the scheme is set up and how well families are able to respond to the price signal provided by the scheme. The example distributional analysis in the Impact Assessment was based on a separate study showing that larger households (e.g. families with children) tend to produce more waste overall. As can be seen in the Climate Change Bill, local authorities piloting a waste incentive scheme must take account of disadvantaged groups. It would be up to local authorities to decide whether families with children (and any other group in society) should be treated differently under a waste incentive scheme and, if so, how. My Department intends to work with stakeholders to develop guidance on this issue.

Waste Management: Standards

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to make proposals for regional development agency waste performance targets.

Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him on 7 January 2008,  Official Report, column 69W.

Wildlife: Finance

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local authorities applied for funding from his Department to support local wildlife facilities in each of the last five years.

Joan Ruddock: Local wildlife facilities could mean any number of organisations, for example: nature reserves, wildlife parks, zoos, rescue centres, rehabilitation facilities etc. To be able to provide the information required by my hon. Friend a more specific request is required, including what type of funding is being referred to. My hon. Friend is welcome to write to me with the details and I will respond to him.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Databases

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what obligations his Department and its agencies place on contractors in relation to the audit of personal data and IT equipment.

Shaun Woodward: Auditing of personal data and IT equipment is not carried out by contractors in the Northern Ireland Office.

English Language Classes

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on English language classes for staff in the last year for which figures are available.

Shaun Woodward: In 2007-08 further education funding is available for learning and development considered to be essential to a member of staff's current post. English language would be considered under this category but no applications were submitted.

Morgan Allan Moore

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what meetings  (a) he and  (b) officials in his Department have had with representatives of the company Morgan Allan Moore in the last 12 months.

Shaun Woodward: Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not the usual practice of Government to disclose details of such meetings.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many laboratories are licensed for animal testing in the UK.

Meg Hillier: There are currently 201 designated establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Animal Experiments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many proposals were made under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to use animals in science in 2007; and how many of these proposals were accepted.

Meg Hillier: During 2007 617 project licences were applied for under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Of these 475 were granted, 136 are still outstanding and six have not been proceeded with.

Foreign Workers: EU Nationals

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2007,  Official Report, columns 583-4W, on foreign workers: EU nationals, what her most recent estimate is of the number of dependants aged under 17 years residing in the UK with A8 nationals working in the UK.

Liam Byrne: The only available data relate to dependants reported to be accompanying A8 nationals when they register on the Worker Registration Scheme and are published quarterly in the Accession Monitoring Report (AMR). This report currently gives data from 1 May 2004 to 30 September 2007. The information on dependants under 17 years of age is published in table 5 of the report.
	A copy of the AMR will be placed in the House Libraries.

Passports

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will lower the age of eligibility for free passports to 65 years.

Meg Hillier: holding answer 17 December 2007
	 When the then Home Secretary announced the introduction of free passports on 19 May 2004, he made it clear that this was a special concession for the second world war generation, as a way of recognising all those who had contributed to the national effort during the war years. Those who qualify are British nationals born on or before 2 September 1929 and therefore were old enough by the end of the war to have made a substantial contribution to the national effort.
	There are no plans to provide free passports to all those aged 65 or over. This would be considerably more expensive and could lead to an increase in passport fees for all other applicants.

Passports: Applications

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2008,  Official Report, column 292W, on passports: applications, how many passport interview offices were fully operational by 31 December 2007.

Meg Hillier: 59 interview offices were in live operations by 31 December 2007. A further two offices have already gone live in early January with another five opening by end January 2008.

WALES

Morgan Allan Moore

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what meetings  (a) he and  (b) officials in his Department have had with representatives of the company Morgan Allan Moore in the last 12 months.

Peter Hain: Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not the usual practice of Government to disclose details of such meetings.

Renewable Energy

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had on the tendering process conditions imposed by the Welsh Assembly Government on renewable energy company investors for schemes that exceed 50 megawatts; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: I have regular discussions about all aspects of renewable energy production in Wales, which I strongly support. However, tendering is entirely a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government. I understand prospective developers are assessed against open and objective criteria. It is important that their financial, economic and technical capacity are fully assessed so that the project can be delivered for the benefit of Wales.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Housing

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what targets he has set for upgrading all single living accommodation to grade  (a) 1 and  (b) 2 categories under the grade for charge initiative; and when he expects these targets to be met.

Derek Twigg: The Department's targets only envisage delivering new or improved single living accommodation bed-spaces to the highest standard (grade 1). We plan to deliver some 30,000 new or improved bed-spaces by 2013.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many single living accommodation bed-spaces were upgraded to grade  (a) 1 and  (b) 2 categories under the grade for charge initiative in each of the last four years.

Derek Twigg: The Department has targets to deliver only grade 1 bed-spaces. For each of the last four financial years the number of bed-spaces delivered is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year  Number of new or improved bed-spaces 
			 2006-07 5,565 
			 2005-06 5,540 
			 2004-05 5,635 
			 2003-04 2,915

Armed Forces: Housing

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many newly-acquired  (a) grade 1,  (b) grade 2,  (c) grade 3,  (d) grade 4 and  (e) ungraded single living accommodation bed-spaces were added to stock in each of the last five years; and what targets he has for adding new bed-spaces to stock in each grade for charge.

Derek Twigg: The Department only targets the delivery of new or improved single living accommodation (SLA) to Grade 1 standard. Numbers of newly built or improved SLA bed-spaces delivered in each year are only available for the last four financial years and are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year  Number of new or improved bed spaces 
			 2006-07 5,565 
			 2005-06 5,540 
			 2004-05 5,635 
			 2003-04 2,915 
		
	
	The Department will build or improve a further 30,000 bed-spaces to grade 1 standard by 2013.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many personnel who have served in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan are recorded as having a mental health problem, broken down by condition;
	(2)  how many personnel who have served in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan have been diagnosed with a mental health condition.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is detailed in the latest version of UK Armed Forces Psychiatric Morbidity Report (January to March 2007), copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
	The Defence Analytical Services Agency is currently validating and analysing the data for the second quarter of 2007 (April to June), and their report will be published shortly.

Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what locations Ministry of Defence police officers have been replaced with  (a) civilian police forces and  (b) private security forces since 2003.

Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence Police have never been replaced by a civilian police force or a private security force at any functioning Defence establishment. However, when establishments close and all MOD functions have withdrawn it is possible that private security forces are used, but this would provide a guarding not policing service.

PRIME MINISTER

Gordon Brown

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister whether he  (a) informed the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury of the donations he received as part of his campaign for the Leadership of the Labour Party and  (b) registered them with the Cabinet Office in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Gordon Brown: In accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, a list of Ministers' relevant interests declared to their permanent secretary will be published in due course.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Data Protection

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether personal data for which his Department is responsible are  (a) stored and  (b) processed overseas; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not retain personal data.

Departmental Databases

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what obligations his Department places on contractors in relation to the audit of personal data and IT equipment.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not retain personal data and is an integral part of the Scottish Executive's IT system who undertake a rolling audit of IT equipment.

Departmental Databases

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what audits his Department carried out in relation to personal data and IT equipment in each of the last 10 years.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The office does not retain personal data and is an integral part of the Scottish Executive's IT system who undertake a rolling audit of IT equipment.

Departmental Marketing

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what products featuring departmental or Government branding were procured by his Department in each of the last five years.

David Cairns: Business cards.

Departmental Marketing

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many posters or displays there are in the offices of his Department displaying the names and photographs of Ministers; and what the cost has been of producing such posters or displays in the last five years.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not have any such posters or displays in its offices, except the gallery of previous Secretaries of State that is displayed in Dover House. The Office has added photographs to this gallery in the last five years but separate records of the costs involved are not maintained.

Departmental Redundancies

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2008,  Official Report, column 350W, on departmental redundancies, how many staff in the Scotland Office are on loan from each Government Department.

David Cairns: The figures at 31 March 2007 were:
	
		
			  Department  Number on loan 
			 Scottish Executive 29 
			 Ministry of Justice 21 
			 Total 50

Trade Unions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what meetings he has had with trade union officials since 1 July 2007; on what dates; and with which trade unions.

David Cairns: Ministers meet many people as part of the process of policy development. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council of England: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many regularly funded organisations are supported by Arts Council England.

James Purnell: In 2007-08 Arts Council England supported 990 regularly funded organisations.

Arts Council of England: Grants

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which Arts Council England regularly funded organisations were informed in December 2007 that their funding was to be reduced.

James Purnell: holding answer 16 January 2008
	Arts Council England operates at arm's length from the Government and decisions about which arts organisations to fund are entirely for them. They have said the following in response to requests to see the names of the organisations listed in their proposals:
	"Our proposals for non-renewal of funding cannot be made available until our National and Regional Councils make final decisions. This information is considered confidential and commercially sensitive during the response period. This is especially so in the case of a recommendation that might be overturned by the National Council or a Regional Council. Regularly funded organisations who have a right to respond to our recommendation, should be able to do so freely without fear that our intention to reduce or stop their funding is potentially unnecessarily, and without their consent, released into the public domain. A full announcement will be made at the beginning of February."

Arts Council of England: Standards

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria Arts Council England uses when assessing the artistic quality of the work of their regularly funded organisations.

James Purnell: Arts Council England operates at arm's length from the Government and decisions about which arts organisations to fund are entirely for them.
	In October 2006 Arts Council England published guidance on how it assesses artistic quality. A copy of the guidelines will be placed in the Library of the House.
	This is also available on Arts Council England's website at:
	http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications/information_detail.php?rid=0&sid=&browse=recent&id=92
	Arts Council England is reviewing these guidelines this year following the publication of the McMaster Review.

Arts: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government have taken to support the creative industries in the West Midlands since 1997.

James Purnell: holding answer 15 January 2008
	 My Department has sought to co-ordinate action across government in support of the creative industries. In November 2005, we established the Creative Economy Programme which brought together DCMS, DTI (as it then was), industry representatives and Government bodies such as the Arts Council, the UK Film Council and the Design Council. We will shortly launch a strategy document for the creative industries which will set out the challenges that Government and industry will need to address in order to sustain and grow this vitally important sector of the economy.
	Key agencies in the West Midlands with responsibility for growing the creative industries, including the Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands, Culture West Midlands, Business Link, the Learning and Skills Council, Arts Council England, Screen West Midlands and Skillset, have come together to form the Creative Industries Strategy Group. This group is developing a regional "Creative Industries Manifesto", which will help raise the profile of the sector nationally and internationally; it will also work to bring key initiatives to the region, such as national centres of excellence or major events.
	In addition, since 1997, funding from the European Regional Development Fund has supported a number of projects, including business support and venture capital projects, related to the development of the creative industries in the region. Projects in the 2000-06 Objective 2 Programme have included the establishment of the Advantage Creative Fund (£1.6 million), Business Support for Creative Industries in Birmingham (£2.5 million) and the West Midlands Media Production Fund (£3.7 million).

BBC America: Finance

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what procedures are in place to ensure that licence fee moneys are not used to subsidise BBC America  (a) directly and  (b) indirectly; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: holding answer 15 January 2008
	 Under the terms of its charter and agreement, the BBC is prohibited from using licence fee revenue to fund any commercial service or any service aimed primarily at users outside the UK. The BBC's Fair Trading Guidelines, available on the BBC website, set out the BBC's approach to complying with its obligations to keep licence fee revenue separate from its commercial operations.

Sports

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which activities his Department define as sports; and when the list of activities included within his Department's definition of sport was last revised.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Local Government Association on 23 December 2007 confirming that the definition of sport in the new performance measurement framework will remain largely unchanged from the definition currently used for the DCMS public service agreement on moderate intensity sport and for the Comprehensive Performance Assessment. A copy of this letter has been placed in the House Library.
	The definition of sport will continue to measure sport and active recreation such as recreational walking and cycling. From April 2008 the definition of sport will also include measurement of some lighter intensity sports and physical activities such as yoga, bowls and pilates for those aged 65 or over; as these activities place a degree of physical demand on that age group.
	This broad definition supports the Government's aim of getting 2 million more people more active by 2012.
	Sport England are developing a new strategy on how they will build a world-class community sport infrastructure. As part of this work Sport England will review which sports fall within their funding remit. Her Majesty's Treasury is leading on a cross-Government physical activity strategy for all, which will look at policy, funding and delivery of wider physical activity.

Sports: Greyhounds

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to regulate greyhound racing; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government welcome the recent report by Lord Donoughue into greyhound racing, and we endorse the view that the industry needs to introduce significant reform if it is going to meet the welfare standards expected in the 21st century. While any regulation would be a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, we agree with the recommendation in the report that the industry must aim to be self-regulated. I hope that everyone involved in administrating, promoting, funding and providing gambling facilities for the sport will work together to develop a collective response to Lord Donoughue's recommendations.

Swimming: Finance

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the availability of funding to swimming clubs in Greater London.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Swimming clubs in London are eligible to apply for lottery funding from Sport England's London region, which has £29 million for investment in community projects in 2004-09, of which approximately £15 million remains to be allocated.
	Swimming is also part of the Exchequer-funded community club development programme (CCDP), which provides investment in equipment and facilities in clubs. Six clubs in London have benefited from the CCDP programme.
	Sport England has also awarded £247,500 of lottery funding to the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) between 2007 and 2010 to fund three coaches to raise the standard and quality of coaching in identified swimming clubs in London. A fund of £750,000 (comprising £375,000 from Sport England and £375,000 from the Learning Skills Council) has been established for coach qualification bursaries in 2007-09. Swimming coaches linked to clubs in London have the opportunity to apply for grants from this fund to support their personal professional development.
	Sport England has also awarded the ASA £8.8 million over four years to support the delivery of its 2005-09 national strategic plan. This enables it to allocate resources to its London regional development staff whose role is to deliver development programmes (including the PE and School Club Links programme) and lever further investment into swimming from the public, private, voluntary and charitable sectors, which will benefit clubs. The ASA runs workshops to update clubs on funding opportunities, and publishes a quarterly newsletter for clubs with details of potential avenues for club funding.

Television: Licensing

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate his Department has made of the percentage of households which  (a) have no television licence,  (b) do not have a television and  (c) have a television but are unlicensed.

James Purnell: This is a matter for the BBC. I have, therefore, asked the BBC's Head of Revenue Management to consider the question raised by my hon. Friend and to write to her direct. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Children in Care: Higher Education

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what research his Department has undertaken on levels of debt of looked-after children on graduation from university.

Kevin Brennan: During the consultation on our Green Paper "Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care" children and young people told us that they faced financial barriers to entering higher education, including a belief that they will not be able to meet the additional costs. This is supported by research evidence from the Institute of Education and the Frank Buttle Trust which showed that young people who have been looked after typically have higher levels of debt on graduation than their peers and identified significant variations in the level of financial support offered by different local authorities.
	The consultation confirmed the support for our proposal to introduce a £2,000 higher education bursary for care leavers to ensure that they get a minimum level of financial support. Eighty three per cent. of young people at the "Care Matters" consultation events thought the bursary was a good idea and 73 per cent. thought it would encourage more young people who were looked after to go on to higher education.

Departmental Coordination

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people in his Department are responsible for liaising with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Kevin Brennan: Following the Machinery of Government changes last year, three separate Departments were established with clear demarcation of responsibility. However, we have sought to maintain effective communication links across the three new Departments to minimise disruption to our customers. A range of officials in DCSF are in regular discussion with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills across a number of issues, covering both policy and the provision of corporate services. The issues being discussed and number of people involved varies.

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what efficiency savings his Department was required to make as part of its spending review 2004 (SR04) targets; what efficiency projects have been undertaken in the Department in pursuit of those targets; on what date each was initiated; and how much each was predicted to contribute to the SR04 target.

Kevin Brennan: The Department is jointly committed with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), to the efficiency target set originally for the Department for Education and Skills (DFES).
	The DFES target is 2.5 per cent. a year over the spending review 2004 period. This means being able to demonstrate cumulative gains against our baseline of £1.45 billion in 2005-06, £2.9 billion in 2006-07 and £4.35 billion in 2007-08.
	Details of the specific initiatives which contribute to our Gershon efficiency target are set out in our Efficiency Technical Note, which is available on the Department's website:
	www.dcsf.gov.uk

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 19 July 2007,  Official Report, column 531W, on Departments: cost effectiveness, what the target is for efficiency savings to be divided between the two newly created Departments.

Kevin Brennan: Machinery of Government changes within the Department have resulted in the Department for Education and Skills (DFES) target being split between the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).
	Treasury are keen that there is a shared responsibility for the overall target and that this is agreed formally. Both DCSF and DIUS permanent secretaries have set out their continued commitment to the overall target. However, it is important for governance and accountability purposes that each Department knows which initiatives within the programme it is responsible for. We have calculated an indicative split of the Gershon Targets and progress towards them is outlined in the autumn performance reports for each Department. The Department published its autumn performance reports in December 2007, which are available on our website:
	www.dcsf.gov.uk

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether any of his Department's special advisers have declared a conflict of interest.

Kevin Brennan: Special advisers are appointed under the terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Copies of the Model Contract are available in the Libraries of the House.

Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what meetings he had with executives of the OCR exam board in each of the last three months; and what was discussed at such meetings.

Kevin Brennan: My right hon. Friend has not had any meetings with the executives of the OCR exam board in the last three months.

Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how frequently he meets executives of the OCR exam board.

Kevin Brennan: My right hon. Friend has not met the executives of the OCR exam board, and as of 14 January 2008 no meetings with the board are scheduled.

Private Sector

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what departmental investigations have taken place since 1 January 2007 into the management of his Department's contracts with private sector agencies; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: The Department carries out a programme of regular risk based audit assessments across the range of its business. This includes reviews of the quality of contract management.
	Investigations may be carried out into issues where there appears to be evidence of possible malpractice or impropriety. Since 1 January 2007, the Department has undertaken two formal investigations that have concerned or included consideration of issues relating to the management of contracts with private sector organisations.

Regulation

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families for which regulators and inspectorates his Department has had responsibility in each year since 1997; what the budget was of each such body in each year; and what the cost to the public purse was of any restructuring of each such body in each year.

Kevin Brennan: The following table sets out the annual budget for each of the financial years from 1998-99 to 2006-07 for each of the regulatory and inspectorate bodies that were the responsibility of the former Department for Education and Skills (2001-02 to 2006-07) and the former Department for Education and Employment (1998-99 to 2000-01). Final figures are not currently available for 2007-08 for the Department for Children, Schools and Families and information is not readily accessible prior to 1998-99.
	The Department does not hold specific financial information in relation to the cost of any restructuring that these bodies may have undertaken. This information could be gathered from the bodies themselves only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Annual budget provision for regulatory and inspectorate bodies of the former Department for Education and Skills and the former Department for Education and Employment since 1998-99 
			  £000 
			  Financial year  Adult Learning Inspectorate  Office for Fair Access  Office of the Children's Commissioner  General Teaching Council  Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 
			 2006-07 27,100 500 3,000 449 150,900 
			 2005-06 26,100 400 3,000 609 151,000 
			 2004-05 30,712 500 — 3,007 155,014 
			 2003-04 30,000 — — 3,300 94,700 
			 2002-03 25,400 — — 3,500 69,900 
			 2001-02 21,500 — — 7,400 54,269 
			 2000-01 — — — — 61,326 
			 1999-2000 — — — — 58,292 
			 1998-99 — — — — 54,800 
			  Note: Adult Learning Inspectorate transferred to Ofsted from 1 April 2007.  Source: Departmental resource accounts from 1998-99 to 2006-07.

Schools: Sports

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many school governing bodies and school sport associations work with competition managers.

Kevin Brennan: Competition managers work with schools, national governing bodies of sport and school sport associations within each county area to increase inter-school sport competition. The national school sport competition framework has been developed in partnership with some 20 national governing bodies of sport.
	School sport partnerships now include all maintained schools in England. There are currently 90 competition managers in post, each working across two school sport partnerships. On average, there are 48 schools per partnership. This means that competition managers are currently working with around 7,200 primary schools and 1,440 secondary schools. The appointment of a total of 226 competition managers by January 2009 will ensure that all maintained schools in England will be included in this framework.

Special Educational Needs: Greater London

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils have been statemented in schools in each London borough in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The information requested is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Maintained mainstream schools: number of pupils for whom statements were newly made, London local authorities, 2002 - 06, position in January each year 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  London( 1) 4,840 4,930 4,520 4,040 3,840 
			   
			  Inner London( 1) 1,790 1,860 1,710 1,460 1,450 
			 Camden 103 169 179 117 94 
			 City of London 5 0 4 (2)— (2)— 
			 Hackney 174 147 149 142 136 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 128 127 104 92 66 
			 Haringey 159 181 137 118 146 
			 Islington 92 87 102 130 100 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 60 46 36 43 32 
			 Lambeth 126 197 143 112 166 
			 Lewisham 250 121 182 136 126 
			 Newham 37 41 45 40 50 
			 Southwark 213 241 178 149 166 
			 Tower Hamlets 186 199 190 166 125 
			 Wandsworth 164 204 165 133 131 
			 Westminster 95 99 97 82 108 
			   
			  Outer London( 1) 3,050 3,070 2,810 2,580 2,390 
			 Barking and Dagenham 160 140 114 80 62 
			 Barnet 161 87 116 143 157 
			 Bexley 194 197 208 207 120 
			 Brent 117 171 156 141 168 
			 Bromley 206 166 152 198 186 
			 Croydon 244 273 240 193 145 
			 Ealing 181 196 156 156 146 
			 Enfield 210 203 188 139 82 
			 Greenwich 111 167 149 129 186 
			 Harrow 152 150 108 102 119 
			 Havering 97 113 94 67 36 
			 Hillingdon 248 187 100 103 103 
			 Hounslow 230 250 230 174 121 
			 Kingston upon Thames 79 89 98 72 46 
			 Merton 149 140 165 128 100 
			 Redbridge 170 150 168 161 187 
			 Richmond upon Thames 79 66 75 78 78 
			 Sutton 107 142 107 123 131 
			 Waltham Forest 157 185 186 188 214 
			 (1) Regional totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. (2) One or two pupils.  Source: SEN 2 Survey 2003-06.

TRANSPORT

A63

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans she has to de-trunk the A63.

Tom Harris: The Highways Agency published Draft Statutory Orders to de-trunk the A63/A19 route, between the Boot and Shoe roundabout at Micklefield and Loftsome Bridge, on 28 June 2007. A number of objections have been received to the proposal from local councils, including North Yorkshire county council and Leeds city council. Objections have also been received from the hon. Member for Selby (Mr. Grogan) and some local residents. The Highways Agency aims to resolve the objections to enable de-trunking in 2008.

Aviation: Noise

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport public consultation has taken account of the Putting noise on the map airport noise maps information published on 18th December 2007 by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs relating to Heathrow airport; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 7 January 2008
	Paragraphs 51-54 of Annex E of the Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport Consultation document drew attention to the requirements of the European Environmental Noise Directive (END) 2002/49 EC for major airports to produce strategic noise maps. Following preparations of the noise maps, airports will have to produce action plans setting out measures to mitigate aircraft noise.
	However the consultation document noted that, given the difference in parameters, it was not possible to draw any meaningful conclusions between the END Lden maps and the annual summer Leq contours used by the Department. The environmental commitment given in the Future of Air Transport White Paper undertook not to increase the size of the area significantly affected by noise as measured by the annual departmental 57dBA Leq noise contour.

British Railways Board

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people are employed by the British Railways Board (Residuary); and what that body's budget was in 2006-07.

Tom Harris: Full details of BRB (Residuary) Ltd.'s budget and results for 2006-07 are available in the annual report and accounts for the company which can be found on their website at www.brbr.gov.uk
	This shows that the company made a statutory profit before tax of £9.4 million in 2006-07 and employed 27 people on a full-time equivalent basis.

Commissioners of Irish Lights: Finance

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will publish the Review of Funding for the Commissioners of Irish Lights in hard copy and electronically.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to my reply given on 14 January 2008,  Official Report, column 843W. The report of the Irish Lights Study will be published in hard copy and in electronic format.

Commissioners of Irish Lights: Finance

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Republic of Ireland  (a) have contributed to the funding of the Commissioners of Irish Lights in the last five years,  (b) will contribute to the funding of the Commissioners of Irish Lights for 2007-08 and  (c) is recommended to contribute towards the funding of the Commissioners of Irish Lights by the recent review of such funding.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is set out as follows.
	
		
			   Irish Government supplement  ( €000 )  Light dues collected in ROI  ( €000 )  Sundry income generated in the ROI  ( €000 )  Total contributed by ROI to the GLF  ( €000 )  Average exchange rate for year  Total contributed by ROI to the GLF  (£000) 
			 2002-03 3,455 5,279 304 9,038 1.5661 5,771 
			 2003-04 4,113 4,998 717 9,828 1.4382 6,833 
			 2004-05 5,734 4,489 746 10,969 1.4701 7,462 
			 2005-06 5,456 4,754 1,007 11,217 1.4660 7,652 
			 2006-07 5,808 4,614 646 11,068 1.4728 7,515 
			 2007-08 (estimated) 5,800 4,700 980 11,480 1.3900 8,259 
			  Note: The Irish Lights Evidence Study has not yet been completed. Following its completion there will be negotiations between the two Governments to determine appropriate contributions towards the funding of the Commissioners of Irish Lights.

Daedalus Airfield

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment she has made of the status of Daedalus airfield at Lee-on-Solent.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and its parent Department, the Department for Transport have now reviewed the status of Daedalus airfield and are of the view that it is not a Government aerodrome, within the meaning of the Air Navigation Order 2005. It is a civilian (unlicensed) aerodrome in the occupation of the Hampshire Police Authority (HPA).
	The HPA occupies the site as lessee and under the terms of its lease is responsible for the operational management of the aerodrome, including matters of safety and airfield access.

Departmental Redundancy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost was of redundancies in her Department in the 12 months preceding  (a) 30 June 2004,  (b) 30 June 2005 and  (c) 30 June 2006.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport and its agencies had no compulsory or voluntary redundancies between 2004 and 2006, but made headcount reductions by undertaking voluntary staff exit schemes, including early retirements. The cost across the seven agencies and the central Department based on financial accounting years were:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 1.7 
			 2004-05 7.1 
			 2005-06 10.4 
		
	
	The Department is only able to provide derails of the voluntary exit schemes in the time spans requested at disproportionate cost.

Electric Vehicles

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment her Department has made of the contribution to  (a) carbon dioxide emissions and  (b) congestion reduction targets of permitting the use of two-wheeled, self-balancing electric transportation devices on the public highway; what plans she has to bring forward measures to allow the use of such devices on such highways; and if she will meet representations of manufacturers of such devices to discuss their merits.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the contribution to carbon dioxide emission or congestion reduction targets of permitting the use of two-wheeled, self-balancing electric transportation devices. However, if, as I understand, their use is likely to be as an alternative to walking or cycling then their potential in terms of greenhouse gas and local pollution reduction would appear to be at best negligible.
	There have been a number of meetings, demonstrations and exchanges of correspondence, both at ministerial and official level, with manufacturer representatives. There are currently no plans for further meetings.

Freight

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage changes there were in the movement of freight within the United Kingdom by  (a) road,  (b) rail,  (c) water and  (d) pipeline in each year since 2001.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The available information on domestic freight by mode for Great Britain is published in Transport Statistics in Great Britain Table 4.1. The web link for this table is:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/freight/tsgbchapter4datatables.xls.
	
		
			  Table: Domestic freight transport by mode 
			  Billion tonne kilometres/percentage 
			   Goods moved 
			   Road  Rail( 1)  Water  Pipeline 
			   Billion tonne kilometres  Percentage inc.  Billion tonne kilometres  Percentage inc.  Billion tonne kilometres  Percentage inc.  Billion tonne kilometres  Percentage inc. 
			 2001 158.5 — 19.4 — 58.8 — 11.5 — 
			 2002 159.4 0.6 18.7 -3.6 67.0 13.9 10.9 -5.2 
			 2003 161.7 1.4 18.9 1.1 61.0 -9 10.5 -3.7 
			 2004 162.5 0.5 20.4 7.7 59.4 -2.6 10.7 1.9 
			 2005 163.4 0.6 21.7 6.6 60.9 2.5 10.8 0.9 
			 2006 166.9 2.2 22.1 1.9 51.8 -14.9 10.8 0 
			 (1) Rail figures are for financial years.  Sources: Road and Water, DFT; Rail, ORR; Pipeline, BERR.

Freight

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the annual movement of freight by road, in billion tonne kilometres, was in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Annual figures for the level of road freight activity by GB-registered goods vehicles in Great Britain (measured in billion tonne kilometres), excluding foreign vehicle activity, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Goods moved (billion tonne kilometres) 
			 1997 157 
			 1998 160 
			 1999 158 
			 2000 159 
			 2001 159 
			 2002 159 
			 2003 162 
			 2004 163 
			 2005 163 
			 2006 167 
			  Source: Table 4.1, Transport Statistics Great Britain 2007.

Heathrow Airport

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether Heathrow Airport has exceeded the number of flights operating during the night quota period in each season since winter 2006-07;
	(2)  whether Heathrow Airport has exceeded the quota count points system for noise levels during the night quota period in each season since winter 2006-07.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Heathrow airport has operated consistently within the Government's night flight regime requirements. This regime specifies seasonal maxima covering both aircraft movements and noise quota amounts. The maxima for the seasons from winter 2006-07 to date are as follows:
	
		
			   Winter 2006-07  Summer 2007  Winter 2007-08 
			 Movements 2,550 3,250 2,550 
			 Quota 4,140 5,610 4,140 
		
	
	The night restrictions regime has recognised for a number of years that there will be occasions when the airport can be affected by extraordinary circumstances which cannot be anticipated (for example aircraft delays caused by security, severe weather or ATC situations). Accordingly, in such circumstances, there is provision under the regime that flights may be dispensed i.e. will not count against the limits.

Heathrow Airport

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which individuals and organisations have been sent a copy of the Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport consultation document; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 16 January 2008
	On the launch of the 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation we sent out 766 consultation documents to a wide range of organisations, as set out in Annex G of the consultation document. The full list of these organisations has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	We also sent out over 217,000 Summary Documents to residents around the airport, which recommends that they request the full Consultation Document to inform their response. To date we have sent over 900 copies of the consultation document to a range of different organisations, interests and members of the public who have requested a copy. Our obligations under data protection legislation prevent us from releasing the names of individuals concerned. The consultation document is available at the consultation exhibitions which we are running in the communities around the airport. To date, 470 copies of the Consultation Document have been given out at the exhibitions. Seven of these exhibitions had taken place by 15 January, with five remaining.

Heathrow Airport: Pollution

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate her Department has made of nitrogen dioxide emissions at Heathrow airport in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 16 January 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave on 7 January 2008,  Official Report, column 4W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Henley (Mr. Johnson)

Heathrow Airport: Sustainable Development

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment was made as part of the Project for the Sustainable Development of Heathrow of the carbon dioxide emissions in relation to option  (a) 1,  (b) 2 and  (c) 3 from the additional passenger traffic travelling to and from Heathrow under each option; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The carbon dioxide emissions from additional passengers travelling by air under options one, two, and three in the "Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport" consultation are set out in annex B of the consultation document, available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/heathrowconsultation/consultationdocument/
	Carbon dioxide emissions from additional surface access trips to Heathrow would depend on the detail of the surface access strategy accompanying any extra capacity. This would need to be developed by the airport operator as part of a comprehensive transport assessment prior to a planning application.

Network Rail: Private Roads

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many unadopted roads in the UK Network Rail owns.

Tom Harris: This is an operational matter for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's Chief Executive at the following address for a response to his question.
	Iain Coucher
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London NW1 2EE

Parking

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what obligations are placed on local parking enforcement authorities to make refunds when an adjudicator has ruled a particular parking zone or bay illegal or not fully in compliance with legislation.

Rosie Winterton: An adjudicator who allows an appeal against a penalty charge may direct an authority to refund any money already paid in respect of the penalty charge, sale, or release of the vehicle. The authority must comply with such a direction without delay. Adjudicators can only make such directions in relation to individual appeal cases.

Railways

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment she has made of the profit margins achieved by rolling stock companies and the contingent effect upon the rail network.

Tom Harris: holding answer  15 January 2008
	 This is a matter which is being considered as part of the Competition Commission's investigation into the leasing of rolling stock to passenger rail operators.

Railways: Essex

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons were for the overrunning of engineering works affecting train services between Liverpool Street and Essex over the Christmas and New Year period; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Harris: The independent Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has launched an investigation into Network Rail's management of engineering projects including the causes of the major engineering over-run at Liverpool Street over Christmas and the new year. The ORR expects to publish its findings by 29 February 2008. We will not seek to pre-empt the ORR's investigation by speculating on causes before its report is issued.

Railways: Essex

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what the reasons are for the disruption of the Liverpool Street to Chelmsford rail line experienced since 31 December 2007; what steps are being taken to improve the quality of service for commuters on that line; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  for what reasons Liverpool Street Station was not fully operational for commuters on 1 January 2008; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Harris: holding answer  16 January 2008
	The independent Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has launched an investigation into Network Rail's management of engineering projects including the causes of the major engineering over-runs at Liverpool Street over Christmas and the new year. The ORR expects to publish its findings by 29 February 2008. We will not seek to pre-empt the ORR's investigation by speculating on causes before its report is issued.

Railways: Finance

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will estimate the costs of running a Sunday rail service  (a) overall and  (b) for each train operating company (i) on Christmas day and (ii) on Boxing day.

Tom Harris: We have no plans to do so. Whether or not to run services on Christmas day and Boxing day is primarily a matter for the commercial judgment of Network Rail and train operators who are best placed to assess the potential costs and revenue. This has, though, to be balanced against the need to carry out major infrastructure upgrades at times when trains are not running.

Railways: Overcrowding

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of levels of overcrowding  (a) at peak times,  (b) at off-peak times and  (c) on Saturdays at each station on the Portsmouth to Cardiff via Salisbury rail route in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Harris: The Department for Transport has made no estimate of the levels of crowding at each station on the Portsmouth to Cardiff rail route.

Railways: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons are for the time taken to complete the works on Upper Gungate Bridge in Tamworth constituency by Network Rail.

Tom Harris: This is an operational matter for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's Chief Executive at the following address for a response to his question.
	Iain Coucher
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London NW1 2EE

Tyres: Safety

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is considering to raise the awareness of driving with under-inflated tyres; and what data she has on numbers of vehicles on the road with under-inflated tyres.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport launched the ACT ON CO2 communications campaign in March 2007. One element of the campaign is to provide drivers with tips for more fuel efficient 'smarter' driving techniques to help reduce CO2 emissions. This includes ensuring that tyres are maintained at the correct pressure.
	The Department has used a variety of media to raise awareness of the campaign, including television, radio, online and print media, directing people to the ACT ON CO2 website for more detailed advice.
	In October 2007 the Department for Transport endorsed TyreSafe's 'Tyre safety month' to raise awareness of the issue.
	The Department does not collect data on the numbers of vehicles on the road with under-inflated tyres, however a survey in 2007 carried out by Michelin found that 80 per cent. of cars were running with incorrect tyre pressures. Further research conducted by TNO for the Dutch Ministry of Environment showed that 50 per cent. of cars were running on under-inflated tyres.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Accidents: Farms

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many farm accidents there were in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: A total of 1,315 accidents were reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) in 2006-07 by duty holders in the agriculture and hunting industry; including farms. This also includes accidents to workers, the self-employed and members of the public from work activities in the agriculture and hunting sectors.
	The total includes fatal and 'major injuries' and 'over three day injury' accidents as defined in RIDDOR. In simple terms, a major injury is defined as an amputation, fracture (not in fingers/toes), certain dislocations, and injury requiring immediate medical treatment or a stay in hospital for over 24 hours. An over three day injury is one where the injured person was required to be absent from normal (work) duties for more than three whole days (including week ends). It also includes accidents to workers, the self-employed and members of the public from work activities in the agriculture and hunting sectors.
	2006-07 is the most recent full year for which data are available. However, because of late reporting to HSE, the data are provisional and will be finalised next year in 2008.

Health and Safety Executive: Bureaucracy

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Health and Safety Executive minimises administrative burdens to business in carrying out its functions.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive has, alongside other Departments and regulators, outlined its commitment to reducing administrative burdens by 25 per cent. through the publication of its second simplification plan in November 2007, accessed at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/simplification/index.htm.
	To date, HSE's plan identifies projects that are designed to do so by 22 per cent. by 2010.

Industrial Health and Safety: Local Authorities

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance the Health and Safety Executive has given to local authorities on  (a) outdoor Christmas lights,  (b) outdoor lighting in general and  (c) working at heights.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not provided any specific guidance to local authorities on  (a) outdoor Christmas lights or on  (b) outdoor lighting in general.
	HSE has provided good straight forward guidance to local authorities on  (c) working at heights. An operational circular (No 200/31) for HSE and local authorities on the interpretation and enforcement of the work at height regulations 2005 was published along with an inspection pack for enforcing authorities. These can be accessed through HSE's website www.hse.gov.uk together with other guidance on work at height.

Jobcentre Plus: Administration

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on average per year on the administration of Jobcentre Plus in the last five years; and what proportion of this has been spent on the delivery of frontline services.

James Plaskitt: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to reply to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Mel Groves, dated 17 January 2008:
	The Secretary of State has asked the Chief Executive to reply to your question concerning how much has been spent on average per year on the administration of Jobcentre Plus in the last five years and what proportion of this has been spent on the delivery of frontline services. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Ms Strathie as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. I am replying in her absence as Acting Chief Executive.
	The information available is set out in the table below. This contains details of the administration expenditure in Jobcentre Plus over the past four years since 2003/4. Not all costs can be accurately split between customer facing and non customer facing activities. However, the proportion of staff deployed on customer facing activities provides a good approximation of the proportion of costs spent on customer facing activities. This is because most costs are either staff or staff related.
	
		
			   Net administration costs  (£ million)  Proportion staff deployed on front line activities 
			 2003-04 3,042 71 
			 2004-05 3,244 73 
			 2005-06 3,463 84 
			 2006-07 3,542 89 
			  Notes: 1. The administration cost totals for each year relevant annual report and accounts. The last report being 2006-07. 2. The proportion of staff deployed on front line services is extracted from our activity based management system. Information is only available for 2003-04 onwards. 
		
	
	I hope this is helpful.

Morgan Allan Moore

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings  (a) he and  (b) officials in his Department have had with representatives of the company Morgan Allan Moore in the last 12 months.

Peter Hain: Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not the usual practice of Government to disclose details of such meetings.

Pension Credit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in which at least one person will receive  (a) pension credit and  (b) the minimum income guarantee credit in 2008.

Mike O'Brien: Current forecasts for 2008-09 show 2.72 million households in receipt of pension credit, of which 2.04 million are estimated to be in receipt of the pension credit guarantee credit.
	 Notes:
	1. Forecasts are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and are annual average case loads consistent with forecasts published at the 2007 pre-Budget report and comprehensive spending review. Benefit expenditure and case load tables are available at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp
	2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household.
	3. The number of households in receipt of guarantee credit includes those in receipt of guarantee credit only and those in receipt of both guarantee credit and savings credit.
	 Source:
	DWP Forecasts

Pension Credit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in each region have had at least one person in receipt of  (a) pensioner credit and  (b) the minimum income guarantee credit in each year since their introduction.

Mike O'Brien: The answer is in the following table.
	
		
			  Households in receipt of pension credit and the pension credit guarantee credit 2003-07 
			   November 2003  May 2004  May 2005  May 2006  May 2007 
			   Pension credit  Guarantee credit  Pension credit  Guarantee credit  Pension credit  Guarantee credit  Pension credit  Guarantee credit  Pension credit  Guarantee credit 
			 All 2,084,700 1,842,690 2,490,760 2,004,780 2,682,730 2,088,990 2,717,390 2,118,830 2,733,500 2,135,850 
			 North East 124,280 106,690 147,570 114,570 156,680 117,740 157,430 118,870 157,440 119,250 
			 North West 285,900 252,980 332,590 271,230 354,960 280,740 357,560 283,640 359,140 285,530 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 200,810 175,270 241,840 189,990 258,880 195,910 261,650 197,750 262,390 198,420 
			 East Midlands 144,690 126,030 178,600 139,330 193,290 145,490 195,990 148,020 196,580 148,540 
			 West Midlands 216,810 193,350 256,910 208,710 276,840 216,420 279,420 218,570 280,340 219,360 
			 East of England 159,940 141,240 202,300 158,220 220,610 166,890 224,190 169,950 227,080 172,260 
			 London 233,480 218,160 264,860 232,370 285,420 243,410 290,220 247,690 292,420 250,490 
			 South East 205,480 179,090 254,320 199,340 276,770 209,530 282,030 213,660 285,280 217,100 
			 South West 171,570 147,080 205,590 161,720 221,070 169,140 224,820 172,320 225,770 173,520 
			 Wales 121,890 108,170 145,900 119,260 158,370 125,680 161,330 128,360 162,720 129,950 
			 Scotland 219,650 194,440 259,980 209,780 279,370 217,660 282,420 219,720 283,530 220,680 
			 Unknown 190 180 280 240 460 360 330 280 810 740 
			  Notes: 1. The number of households in receipt are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Pension credit was introduced in October 2003 so data for 2003 are as at November. 4. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 5. The number of households in receipt of guarantee credit includes those in receipt of guarantee credit only and those in receipt of both guarantee credit and savings credit. 6. Time series data include minimum income guarantee (MIG) cases: households on income support where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 or over. About 1.8 million MIG cases transferred to pension credit on 6 October 2003.  Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data

Pension Credit

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) single pensioners and  (b) pensioner couples received (i) pension credit and (ii) income support in England in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: The answer is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Pensioners in receipt of pension credit 2003-07 
			   Single pensioners in receipt of pension credit  Pensioner couples in receipt of pension credit 
			 November 2003 1,398,000 345,000 
			 May 2004 1,639,000 446,000 
			 May 2005 1,756,000 488,000 
			 May 2006 1,771,000 503,000 
			 May 2007 1,779,000 507,000 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Pension credit was introduced in October 2003 so data for 2003 are as at November.  Source:  Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent data. DWP Information Directorate 
		
	
	
		
			  Pensioners in receipt of income support/minimum income guarantee 1997-2003 
			  As at May:  Single pensioners in receipt of income support/minimum income guarantee  Pensioner couples in receipt of income support/minimum income guarantee 
			 1997 1,202,000 224,000 
			 1998 1,161,000 212,000 
			 1999 1,137,000 206,000 
			 2000 1,135,000 214,000 
			 2001 1,205,000 233,000 
			 2002 1,215,000 242,000 
			 2003 1,229,000 259,000 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Pensioners are defined as benefit units where either the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 or over. 4. From April 1999 income support for pensioners became the minimum income guarantee. 5. Figures from 1997 to 1999 are taken from a five per cent. sample are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.  Source:  Five per cent. data and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data, DWP Information Directorate

Pensioners

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the net cost would be of increasing the basic state pension for all pensioners to £119.05 a week in 2008-09.

Mike O'Brien: The estimated net cost is approximately £21 billion in 2008-09 which takes savings from income-related benefits into account.
	 Notes
	1. 'All pensioners' is defined as all individuals over state pension age living in the United Kingdom. The estimate does not include pensioners claiming a UK pension, but living overseas. Including this group would increase the estimated costs.
	2. Savings from income related benefits have been estimated using the Department's Policy Simulation Model.
	3. The estimate is consistent with mid-2004 GAD population projections.
	4. The estimate is in 2007-08 prices and has been rounded to the nearest £ billion.

Pensioners

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the net cost would be of increasing the basic state pension for all existing pensioners to 60 per cent. of median population income in 2008-09.

Mike O'Brien: The estimated net cost is approximately £22 billion in 2008-09 which takes savings from income-related benefits into account.
	 Notes
	1. 60 per cent. of median population income for a single person with no children after deducting housing costs was £108 per week in 2005-06 (Households Below Average Income, DWP). This figure has been uprated by average earnings to £121.60 per week in 2008-09.
	2. 'All pensioners' is defined as all individuals over state pension age living in the United Kingdom. The estimate does not include pensioners claiming a UK pension, but living overseas. Including this group would increase the estimated costs.
	3. Savings from income related benefits have been estimated using the Department's Policy Simulation Model.
	4. The estimate is consistent with mid-2004 GAD population projections.
	5. The estimate is in 2007-08 prices and has been rounded to the nearest £ billion.

Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people made contributions into a group personal pension scheme in 2005-06.

Mike O'Brien: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is presented as follows:
	
		
			  Employer sponsored  g roup  p ersonal  p ensions 
			  Thousand 
			   Number of members 
			 Personal pensions 1,890 
			 Stakeholder pensions 870 
			  Notes: 1. The information shows the number of Personal and Stakeholder pension scheme members. They are derived from monthly and annual statistical returns submitted to HMRC by pension providers alongside claims for the repayment of basic rate income tax on contributions. Due to lags in providers submitting monthly returns the number and amounts shown in the tables will tend to underestimate the number of members during the year. 2. The number of members relates to members of each reporting provider and should not be taken as numbers of individuals, since individuals can have more than one pension provider. 3. Employer sponsored schemes include group personal pensions, group stakeholder pensions and all contracts set up under a trust by an employer.  Source:  As reported to HMRC by providers between 6 April 2005 to 5 April 2006

Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged  (a) 18 to 25,  (b) 25 to 45 and  (c) 45 to 65 years are contracted out of the state second pension; and what proportion of the working population in each age group these figures represent.

Mike O'Brien: The latest available information is in the following table:
	
		
			  Age-group  Number of people contracted out ( T housand)  Percentage of corresponding workforce 
			 18-25 633 17 
			 26-45 6,779 49 
			 46-64 3,743 43 
			  Notes:  (a) Contracting-out figures are based on a one per cent. sample of LLMD 2 and are shown to the nearest thousand.  (b) Workforce figures on which the percentages are based are from the Office for National Statistics mid-2003 population estimates.  (c) The "46-64 age group" excludes women aged between 60 and 64 as people cannot contract out beyond state pension age (currently 60 for women and 65 for men).  (d) The age-groups set out in the answer differ slightly from those set out in the question to avoid overlapping and to take account of the fact that men cannot contract out beyond state pension age.  Source: Lifetime Labour Market Database (LLMD) 2, 2003-04

Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have had their pension payment date  (a) advanced to 21 December 2007 and  (b) set to be paid on 24 December 2007.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
	Approximately 5.4 million customers had their payments advanced to 21 December 2007. This figure includes customers in receipt of state pension as well as those people of working age who receive widows benefit and bereavement benefit.
	Approximately 3.6 million customers received their payments on 24 December 2007. This figure includes pension credit, state pension and income support customers.

Pensions: Carers

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) Eastbourne constituency,  (b) England and  (c) the UK receive the carer's credit for the state second pension; and what percentage of the population in each area each figure represents.

Mike O'Brien: The new carer's credit, replacing home responsibilities protection (HRP), will apply to those reaching state pension age from 6 April 2010. It will allow, in certain circumstances, a parent, a registered foster parent or a carer to build up entitlement to basic state pension and state second pension.
	It is estimated that the more generous crediting arrangements will mean up to one million more people (around 90 per cent. of whom are women) will be accruing state second pension.
	Currently HRP provides entitlement to state second pension as well as reducing the number of qualifying years needed for a full basic state pension. HRP is awarded to people who receive child benefit for a child under six years old, carers who receive carer's allowance, and certain other carers.
	The latest figures available (2003-04) show that in that year just under 1.9 million people in the UK qualified for state second pension because they had caring responsibilities. This represented just over four per cent. of the UK working age population at that time. Figures for England and at a constituency level are not available.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Damascus: Entry Clearances

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the restricted visa service at the British embassy in Damascus.

Kim Howells: A restricted visa service has been in operation at our embassy in Damascus since 2 May 2007 for security reasons. Arrangements are therefore in place for Syrian nationals and others resident in Syria to apply at our embassies in Amman or Beirut. It will not be possible for a full service to be resumed until the embassy has relocated to a new building. This is likely to take at least two years. Any inconvenience caused is regretted.

Damascus: Entry Clearances

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the British embassy in Damascus will resume a full visa service; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: A restricted visa service has been in operation at our embassy in Damascus since 2 May 2007 for security reasons. Arrangements are therefore in place for Syrian nationals and others resident in Syria to apply at our embassies in Amman or Beirut. It will not be possible for a full service to be resumed until the embassy has relocated to a new building. This is likely to take at least two years. Any inconvenience caused is regretted.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Armed Conflict

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of clashes between security forces and the Bundu dia Kongo religious sect in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo; what assessment he has made of the implications of such events for the political situation in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: On 5 January 2008 the Bundu dia Kongo (BdK) announced that it wished to replace the elected political leader of Seke Banza territory in western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with one of its members. The police arrested three members of BdK in the territory on the same day. Unrest followed as a group of about three hundred BdK members, some armed with stones and sharpened sticks, confronted the police in the town of Seke Banza. During this incident the BdK attacked the vehicle of a police commander. As the vehicle left the area it ran over and killed four members of the BdK. A police officer was killed during the violence and twenty-two other people were injured and treated in hospital. The area has been calm since 5 January.
	The Government are concerned by these events. The UK supports the effective function of legitimately-elected political leaders in DRC. As the anniversary of the violent clashes in 2007 between DRC security forces and the BdK in the same region approaches, it is hoped that further violence can be avoided through a professional and well-planned response.

Derek Pasquill

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who in his Department took the decision to refer the matter of Mr Derek Pasquill to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Meg Munn: The Metropolitan police took the decision to refer the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Entry Clearances: Internet

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what procedures are in place to allow individuals to apply for visas online.

Kim Howells: Individuals can apply for visas online through the following website:
	www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk.
	This is currently available to applicants in 111 countries and is due to be available globally by April 2008.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken since August 2006 to secure the release of the Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hamas and Hezbollah in June and July 2006.

Kim Howells: The UK remains concerned about the welfare of Gilad Shalit, captured by militants in Gaza, and Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev captured by Hezbollah in northern Israel in 2006.
	The UK and the international community continue to work for the release of these soldiers as a high priority. Egypt has led international efforts to secure the release of Corporal Shalit. We have remained in close contact with the Egyptian authorities, as well as the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority, and continue to offer our support.
	We believe that the most effective way to achieve the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev is to support efforts by the UN to mediate between the parties as part of the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The UN Secretary-General has appointed a special facilitator to try and obtain the release of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. I was encouraged by an exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hezbollah in October 2007 and hope that this will lead to more progress in the negotiations for the release of these soldiers. We will continue to support the UN's efforts. We will also raise the fate of all of these servicemen with those who might have information about their whereabouts whenever an opportunity arises.
	In November 2007 I met the wife and father of Ehud Goldwasser and expressed sympathy for their situation. Shortly before the first anniversary of their capture, I reiterated our call for the release of Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in a debate in the House on 27 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 87-92WH. In addition, I made a public statement calling for their release.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to Syria on using its influence to try to secure the release of the Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hamas and Hezbollah in June and July 2006.

Kim Howells: The UK remains concerned about the welfare of Gilad Shalit, captured by militants in Gaza and Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev captured by Hezbollah in northern Israel in 2006. In July 2006, following the kidnap of Goldwasser and Regev, the Syrian ambassador was called to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Syria was urged to use its influence to secure the release of these soldiers. During meetings between Syrian and UK Ministers since then we have consistently called on Syria to play a helpful role in Lebanon and the middle east more broadly. This includes supporting full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the release of the captured soldiers. We also continue to support the efforts of the government of Israel, Egypt and others to negotiate the release of Gilad Shalit.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to Iran on using its influence to try to secure the release of the Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hamas and Hezbollah in June and July 2006.

Kim Howells: The UK remains concerned about the welfare of Gilad Shalit, captured by militants in Gaza and Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev captured by Hezbollah in northern Israel in 2006. While the UK has not made any specific representations to the Iranian Government on this issue, we continue to encourage the Iranian Government to play a more helpful role in the region. We believe that most effective way to achieve the release of the soldiers captured by Hezbollah is to support efforts by the UN to mediate between the parties, as part of the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. We also continue to support the efforts of the Government of Israel, Egypt and others to negotiate the release of Gilad Shalit.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the observance of human rights in Sri Lanka of the end of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: We regret and are very concerned at the departure from the country of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, following the abrogation of the 2002 Cease-Fire Agreement by the Sri Lankan Government. My noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, the right hon. Lord Malloch-Brown, paid tribute to their effort in his statement of 4 January, available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Patge&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1199197354598%20&year=2008&month=2008-01-01&date=2008-01-04
	The departure of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission can only add to the case for an expanded presence and mandate in Sri Lanka for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Sri Lanka: Peace Negotiations

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with the  (a) Sri Lankan Government and  (b) Norwegian Government on the status of the ceasefire agreement in Sri Lanka.

Kim Howells: On 4 January, my noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, the right hon. Lord Malloch-Brown, issued a statement on the abrogation of the 2002 Cease-Fire Agreement by the Sri Lankan Government. We continue to reiterate to the Sri Lankan Government their responsibility for addressing Tamil grievances and for setting out a viable framework for a just political solution. My noble Friend also paid tribute to the unstinting work of the Norwegians, whom we continue to consult given their wide experience over five years as facilitators of the peace process.
	The full text of my noble Friend's statement is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1199197354598%20&year=2008&month=2008-01-01&date=2008-01-04.

Syria: Lebanon

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports the Government have received of the  (a) scale and  (b) circumstances of the smuggling of weapons from Syria into Southern Lebanon.

Kim Howells: In his most recent report on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1701 in October 2007, the UN Secretary-General reported that arms smuggling across the Syria/Lebanon border was continuing. In particular, the Secretary-General highlighted claims by the Government of Israel that the smuggling of weapons continues from both Iran and from Syria. Israel now claims that Hezbollah has been able to rearm itself to higher levels than before the 2006 conflict and that it now possesses longer-range rockets and new air defence units. Statements by Hezbollah since the conflict appear to confirm Israel's claims that Hezbollah has significantly rearmed. The UK remains seriously concerned by these reports and calls on all countries in the region, including Syria and Iran, to abide by their obligations under UNSCR 1701.
	The UK is also taking practical steps to assist the Government of Lebanon to improve border security. The UK is also providing £800,000 worth of training and equipment to a German-led initiative to improve Lebanese border security capacity.

TREASURY

Child Benefit: Personal Records

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total cost of searches conducted at HM Revenue and Customs premises to trace the lost compact discs containing child benefit data.

Jane Kennedy: The location of the missing data discs is the subject of an ongoing police investigation and no estimate of the total costs has yet been made.

Child Benefit: Poland

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Poland on the adequacy of the number of staff in place in Poland to check the validity of applications for child benefit made in the UK by Polish migrant workers.

Jane Kennedy: HMRC works closely with all its European partners, including Poland, to ensure that the well established processes required under the EC social security co-ordination rules, for exchanging information and verification of circumstances, work well.

Departmental Data Protection

Ben Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Minister in his Department reviewed the formal document submitted by his Departmental Security/IT Officer following the last risk assessment and risk management process for the information security in his Department.

Angela Eagle: The risk assessment and risk management processes for information security are kept under constant review by the Treasury, reporting to the permanent secretary.

Disabled: Children

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to help ensure the affordability of childcare for families with disabled children through the tax credits system in parallel with the childcare accessibility pilots announced in 'Aiming high for disabled children: better support for families'.

Jane Kennedy: 'Aiming high for disabled children: better support for families' committed Government to a £35 million childcare accessibility project over the 2007 comprehensive spending review period, to help test the best ways of meeting provision for families with disabled children.
	HMRC's published statistics for provisional awards show that, as at December 2007, there were 118,000 families with disabled children benefiting from the disabled element of child tax credits, and of these, 49,700 families also benefited from the severely disabled element. This means that a family on maximum award with a disabled child would be entitled to an extra £2,440 per year (plus an additional £980 per year if entitled to the severely disabled child addition).
	In addition to this, families eligible for the childcare element of working tax credits can receive up to 80 per cent. of the costs of childcare to a limit of £175 per week for one child or £300 per week for two or more children. This is available to families with disabled or non-disabled children.

Foreign Workers: EU Nationals

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2007,  Official Report, columns 583-4W, on foreign workers: EU nationals, what was  (a) the number of people of working age in employment,  (b) the working age population and  (c) the working age population employment rate of (i) the UK, (ii) UK citizens, (iii) UK born citizens, (iv) non-UK citizens and (v) EU A8 citizens was in each year since 2001.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 29 November 2007
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 January 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about (a) the number of people of working age in employment, (b) the working age population and (c) the working age population employment rate of (i) the UK, (ii) UK citizens, (iii) UK born citizens, (iv) non-UK citizens and (v) EU A8 citizens in each year since 2001, (169408)
	The attached table gives the working age population, employment level and rate, for the categories requested for the three month period ending June each year, from 2001 to 2007.
	The data for analysing migrant workers comes from the Labour Force Survey. The National Statistics method for estimating the number of migrant workers employed in the UK is routinely based on the number of people at a given time who were born abroad, are of working age (16 - 64 for men, 16-59 for women), and in employment. However, you have requested data analysed by nationality and this is the basis on which this PQ has been answered.
	When interpreting the figures in the table, it is important to bear in mind that the Labour Force Survey (LFS) is not designed to cover everyone who is present in the UK. The survey may undercount the numbers of people who were born overseas. The reasons are set out in the table footnote.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Working age( 1)  population, in employment and in employment rate( 2)  by nationality( 3)  United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted, April to June 2001 to 2007 
			  thousand—except where indicated 
			   A  B  C  D  E 
			   Total UK( 4)  UK  n ationals  UK-born UK  n ationals  Non-UK n ationals  EU A8 n ationals 
			  2001  
			 Population 35,794 33,914 32,362 1,874 46 
			 In employment 26,607 25,452 24,411 1,153 29 
			 Employment rate (percentage) 74 75 75 62 62 
			   
			  2002  
			 Population 35,989 33,996 32,391 1,991 46 
			 In employment 26,735 25,499 24,408 1,234 28 
			 Employment rate (percentage) 74 75 75 62 60 
			   
			  2003  
			 Population 36,138 34,027 32,318 2,111 53 
			 In employment 26,935 25,614 24,453 1,321 29 
			 Employment rate (percentage) 75 75 76 63 54 
			   
			  2004  
			 Population 36,291 34,078 32,364 2,206 78 
			 In employment 27,015 25,585 24,444 1,429 62 
			 Employment rate (percentage) 74 75 76 65 79 
			   
			  2005  
			 Population 36,434 34,049 32,288 2,379 167 
			 In employment 27,136 25,615 24,425 1,518 136 
			 Employment rate (percentage) 75 75 76 64 82 
			   
			  2006  
			 Population 36,587 33,991 32,098 2,591 285 
			 In employment 27,187 25,430 24,153 1,756 236 
			 Employment rate (percentage) 74 75 75 68 83 
			   
			  2007  
			 Population 36,708 33,713 31,807 2,972 501 
			 In employment 27,226 25,205 23,916 2,014 410 
			 Employment rate (percentage) 74 75 75 68 82 
			 (1) Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. (2) Number of people in employment of working age as a percentage of all persons of working age. (3) Including country of birth for UK-born UK nationals. (4) Column A equals column B plus column D plus those who did not state their nationality.  Note: It should be noted that the above estimates: exclude certain people who have been resident in the UK for less than six months; exclude students in halls of residence who do not have a UK resident parent; exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.); are grossed to population estimates that only include migrants staying 12 months or more; are grossed to population estimates consistent with those published in spring 2003 which are significantly lower than the latest population estimates as used in the Labour Market Statistics monthly First Release.  Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Fuels: Prices

James McGovern: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the merits of linking changes in the winter fuel allowance to changes in fuel prices.

Angela Eagle: The Government keep all tax rates and benefit payments under review as part of the Budget process. However, the pre-Budget report 2005 announced that winter fuel payments will be paid at their current levels for the rest of this Parliament.

Government Departments: Annual Reports

Tony Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library the guidance provided by HM Treasury to Departments on what should be included in their 2007 autumn performance reports.

Andy Burnham: A copy of the guidance to departments on their 2007 autumn performance reports (APRs) is being deposited in the Library.

HM Revenue and Customs: Delivery Services

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how HM Revenue and Customs allocates deliveries to mail carriers employed to handle outgoing mail.

Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs allocate mail to carriers based on contractual obligations, level of service requirements and best value.

Northern Rock

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has on the remuneration packages of directors and senior managers of Northern Rock.

Angela Eagle: Remuneration of staff and directors is a matter for the board of Northern Rock. Details of directors' remuneration packages are included in the annual report and accounts.

Parole Board

Michael Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the review of the 16 hour rule announced in paragraph 4.10 of the Parole Board Review 2004 document, Choice for Parents.

Jane Kennedy: The Government considered the option of extending entitlement to the child care element of working tax credits as set out in pre-Budget report 2004. However, as the child care element is an integral part of the overall tax credits system, it would not be practical to have a shorter hours rule for certain claimants claiming certain elements.

Pensions

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the Exchequer of raising the level of trivial commutation to  (a) £16,000,  (b) £17,000,  (c) £18,000,  (d) £19,000,  (e) £20,000,  (f) £21,000,  (g) £22,000,  (h) £23,000,  (i) £24,000,  (j) £25,000,  (k) £26,000,  (l) £27,000,  (m) £28,000,  (n) £29,000,  (o) £30,000,  (p) £31,000,  (q) £32,000,  (r) £33,000,  (s) £34,000 and  (t) £35,000.

Andy Burnham: The trivial commutation limit is currently £16,000 and will rise in stages to £18,000 in 2010. The cost of raising the trivial commutation limit would depend upon a number of behavioural factors, though independent research by the Pensions Policy Institute published in June 2007 suggests the cost to the Exchequer from significantly raising the current limits would most likely be very high. Figures from the ABI show that many annuitised pots are below the £16,000 ceiling for trivial commutation, which suggests the limits are already very generous.
	At PBR 2006 the Government announced that HMRC would discuss with interested parties concerns raised regarding the administration costs of paying trivial commutation lump sums under current rules. The Government are exploring how the current rules impact on the interests of individual pensioners, pension savers, and pension providers and how they fit with its wider objectives of encouraging pension saving to provide people with an income in retirement.

Revenue and Customs: Data Protection

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what policies HM Revenue and Customs has in place to ensure that correspondence is securely delivered; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: HMRC's post and carriage guidance determines which form of postal service should be used for the different types of mail HMRC deals with.

Taxation: Plastic Bags

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's policy is on the proposals in the London Local Authorities Bill to introduce a new additional plastic bags tax on shops in London.

Angela Eagle: The Government pledged in the Waste Strategy for England 2007 to phase out free, single-use carrier bags. The Prime Minister made clear in his environment speech of 19 November that in the longer term it will be necessary to eliminate these bags altogether. The Government are actively considering how it can bring forward action that will enable single- use carrier bags to be phased out, but determining the right way forward needs careful consideration, including the need for compliance with E.U. law.

JUSTICE

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether any of his Department's special advisers also work for organisations outside his Department.

Maria Eagle: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the 'Model Contract' and 'Code of Conduct for Special Advisers', copies of which are in the Library of the House. My Department's special advisers have informed the permanent secretary that they hold no outside appointments.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he will reply to the letter, dated 19 November, from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton, regarding Mr Kurm Shezad Butt.

Jack Straw: I apologise for the delay. The letter was sent on 16 January 2008.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he will reply to the letter of 29 November 2007 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr A. Anwar.

Jack Straw: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 13 January. I apologise for the delay.

National Offender Management Service: Consultants

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent by  (a) the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) on external consultancy fees and  (b) his Department on external consultancy fees related to NOMS in each of the last three years.

Jack Straw: Central collation of NOMS HQ costs started in February 2006, following its creation on 1 April 2005. The amount spent on consultants by NOMS during the period February 2006 to December 2007 is as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 February 2006 to March 2006 1,893,670 
			 April 2006 to March 2007 4,013,390 
			 April 2007 to December 2007 4,264,450 
			 Total 10,171,510 
		
	
	It is not possible to provide details of Consultancy spend for NOMS by the wider Department, since such details were not collated centrally during this period. The cost, however, is likely to be negligible in the context of information provided in the table.

National Offender Management Service: Manpower

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full-time equivalent staff are employed by  (a) the National Offender Management Service,  (b) the National Probation Service and  (c) HM Prison Service.

Jack Straw: The last published figures were as at 31 December 2006 and showed that there were 21,370.98 full-time equivalent staff in post in the national probation service. Updated figures covering Quarter 4 2006-07 (1 January 2007 to 31 March 2007) and Quarter 1 2007-08 (1 April 2007 to 30 June 2007) are currently being validated and will be published shortly in issue 13 of the Workforce Information Report.
	On 30 September 2007 there were 48,714 full-time equivalent staff employed by the public sector Prison Service.
	The full-time equivalent figure for staff employed by the National Offender Management Service as at 30 September 2007 was 1601.16.

Offensive Weapons

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) under 18-year-olds and  (b) over 18-year-olds were convicted of illegally carrying (i) knives and (ii) other weapons in each year since 1997, broken down by police authority area; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The number of persons convicted of illegally carrying (i) knives and (ii) other weapons in each year since 1997 by police force area is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  N umber of defendants aged 10 to 17 who were convicted at all courts for illegally carrying offensive weapons excluding knives, in England and Wales by police force area for the years 1997 to 2006( 1, 2, 3) 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 29 21 34 24 43 57 44 51 45 61 
			 Bedfordshire 9 9 11 13 14 8 11 31 17 25 
			 Cambridgeshire 11 13 10 13 18 23 15 12 33 20 
			 Cheshire 25 29 25 35 27 31 17 35 51 48 
			 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cleveland 20 12 18 20 28 25 31 30 20 35 
			 Cumbria 20 20 21 15 21 15 22 17 27 26 
			 Derbyshire 26 22 28 20 26 31 36 46 41 37 
			 Devon and Cornwall 22 16 16 32 24 28 41 42 53 42 
			 Dorset 6 9 12 13 9 13 13 14 17 24 
			 Durham 24 23 33 34 39 36 27 42 39 56 
			 Essex 56 52 37 43 61 46 62 97 62 83 
			 Gloucestershire 11 21 7 13 12 14 15 18 22 15 
			 Greater Manchester 85 103 105 129 193 175 149 201 181 185 
			 Hampshire 50 55 46 63 85 72 78 88 88 94 
			 Hertfordshire 11 12 8 25 16 10 27 40 43 37 
			 Humberside 16 29 37 34 36 34 40 48 46 55 
			 Kent 33 41 33 43 51 29 35 34 47 50 
			 Lancashire 51 30 39 55 59 53 59 84 87 81 
			 Leicestershire 31 35 26 34 35 41 43 45 40 48 
			 Lincolnshire 8 27 13 15 21 17 23 27 14 22 
			 Merseyside 68 71 48 57 64 63 67 87 96 96 
			 Metropolitan Police 335 336 347 435 679 686 550 631 682 713 
			 Norfolk 16 19 12 16 20 11 29 21 22 21 
			 North Yorkshire 15 8 19 16 10 20 19 28 22 31 
			 Northamptonshire 5 12 15 10 4 7 0 5 1 4 
			 Northumbria 68 98 98 103 125 141 119 138 143 100 
			 Nottinghamshire 20 34 29 44 63 48 55 59 70 64 
			 South Yorkshire 31 35 41 57 58 80 62 63 75 80 
			 Staffordshire(3) 25 19 25 (4)— 31 31 35 42 50 37 
			 Suffolk 13 9 19 12 12 27 26 24 42 38 
			 Surrey 7 10 6 20 24 12 15 22 19 19 
			 Sussex 14 21 23 32 43 30 43 55 66 57 
			 Thames Valley 28 32 23 23 43 39 27 36 65 75 
			 Warwickshire 11 12 9 11 9 7 10 15 9 15 
			 West Mercia 12 19 18 12 41 28 28 36 52 59 
			 West Midlands 82 95 82 135 200 180 140 158 163 186 
			 West Yorkshire 54 44 70 65 65 76 105 121 110 112 
			 Wiltshire 9 18 17 9 13 29 17 19 32 34 
			
			 Dyfed-Powys 6 13 5 15 6 10 11 10 15 14 
			 Gwent 15 11 20 19 19 12 17 31 23 33 
			 North Wales 13 17 13 34 28 32 17 27 40 28 
			 South Wales 36 43 39 49 55 53 55 58 45 56 
			 Total 1,427 1,555 1,537 1,847 2,430 2,380 2,235 2,688 2,815 2,916 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for defendants proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. (4 )Nil.  Source:  Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice. Cur reference: PQ 176295 (Table 3) 
		
	
	
		
			  N umber of defendants aged 18 years and over who were convicted at all courts for illegally carrying offensive weapons excluding knives, in England and Wales by police force area for the years 1997 to 2006( 1, 2, 3) 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 179 209 213 179 186 214 279 243 252 277 
			 Bedfordshire 57 78 58 67 64 88 109 105 142 116 
			 Cambridgeshire 64 92 79 54 69 86 88 102 101 118 
			 Cheshire 143 123 119 114 91 112 115 119 164 162 
			 City of London 26 15 10 11 18 37 31 33 28 17 
			 Cleveland 68 85 67 81 81 131 133 159 150 160 
			 Cumbria 63 83 68 64 57 64 73 91 91 79 
			 Derbyshire 127 96 128 112 133 131 147 193 183 170 
			 Devon and Cornwall 176 193 180 141 173 208 243 212 232 232 
			 Dorset 44 76 68 72 69 82 92 110 124 96 
			 Durham 85 110 117 122 113 128 126 131 182 154 
			 Essex 195 202 195 181 196 196 211 303 292 279 
			 Gloucestershire 62 80 44 50 65 75 65 82 95 78 
			 Greater Manchester 515 648 543 500 576 580 637 768 750 751 
			 Hampshire 250 244 213 207 212 241 299 317 306 320 
			 Hertfordshire 78 66 88 104 96 114 148 164 193 163 
			 Humberside 134 150 144 120 107 146 171 219 222 197 
			 Kent 156 246 216 192 191 190 185 149 174 154 
			 Lancashire 247 296 236 213 253 251 280 319 321 308 
			 Leicestershire 130 177 147 164 149 169 191 206 210 206 
			 Lincolnshire 90 100 108 92 118 107 111 134 120 116 
			 Merseyside 346 367 277 227 264 344 343 413 432 460 
			 Metropolitan Police 2,359 2,318 1,842 1,920 2,369 3,126 2,899 2,868 2,954 2,814 
			 Norfolk 101 119 113 81 94 127 118 148 149 148 
			 North Yorkshire 108 122 92 79 90 83 88 113 124 100 
			 Northamptonshire 49 68 69 57 37 52 63 66 59 37 
			 Northumbria 318 359 389 324 389 389 388 405 419 421 
			 Nottinghamshire 144 190 158 156 150 191 245 246 257 263 
			 South Yorkshire 177 175 202 183 203 253 276 286 328 287 
			 Staffordshire(3) 107 143 122 (4)— 116 170 166 157 147 194 
			 Suffolk 87 59 82 83 74 92 111 128 130 170 
			 Surrey 52 42 32 55 55 56 71 70 69 72 
			 Sussex 152 147 167 156 166 207 186 188 224 212 
			 Thames Valley 191 189 186 132 169 213 193 233 285 297 
			 Warwickshire 49 55 50 45 41 49 49 69 47 58 
			 West Mercia 104 102 90 78 103 100 125 151 156 209 
			 West Midlands 537 500 462 524 701 751 745 776 710 787 
			 West Yorkshire 267 275 291 229 267 335 331 475 447 402 
			 Wiltshire 48 66 77 70 79 72 72 83 95 107 
			
			 Dyfed-Powys 69 74 69 64 65 70 84 81 74 53 
			 Gwent 71 84 66 63 60 91 75 108 96 126 
			 North Wales 106 126 113 85 89 115 117 135 147 181 
			 South Wales 223 260 275 235 244 252 271 287 289 294 
			 Total 8,554 9,209 8,265 7,686 8,842 10,488 10,750 11,645 11,970 11,845 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for defendants proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. (4) Nil.  Source:  Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice Our reference: PQ 176295 (Table 4). 
		
	
	
		
			  N umber of defendants aged 10-17 who were convicted at all courts for illegally carrying knives, in England and Wales by police force area for the years 1997 to 2006( 1, 2, 3) 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 6 7 17 7 23 28 19 28 15 30 
			 Bedfordshire 1 5 3 6 6 2 5 7 11 11 
			 Cambridgeshire 3 6 6 2 4 11 8 6 14 10 
			 Cheshire 7 7 13 11 6 14 6 9 24 14 
			 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cleveland 3 5 4 6 8 12 15 12 8 17 
			 Cumbria 10 5 12 8 11 6 9 8 17 11 
			 Derbyshire 8 9 8 5 8 15 17 17 12 14 
			 Devon and Cornwall 9 6 5 14 11 12 22 17 31 18 
			 Dorset 1 4 4 4 3 10 8 6 8 12 
			 Durham 4 6 8 11 10 17 15 19 19 26 
			 Essex 21 24 15 20 26 14 34 45 33 42 
			 Gloucestershire 3 5 3 4 5 5 8 8 6 8 
			 Greater Manchester 21 37 19 46 72 59 54 68 58 88 
			 Hampshire 19 25 18 29 35 27 45 44 33 37 
			 Hertfordshire 7 5 3 3 2 4 15 20 21 19 
			 Humberside 7 6 12 16 15 17 10 14 23 35 
			 Kent 8 12 8 16 14 4 8 1 0 0 
			 Lancashire 12 14 13 17 21 22 24 39 29 35 
			 Leicestershire 10 11 10 9 13 19 13 18 22 23 
			 Lincolnshire 3 9 7 7 4 10 11 7 6 11 
			 Merseyside 28 25 23 26 15 23 33 30 30 40 
			 Metropolitan Police 148 167 178 194 340 309 246 239 298 337 
			 Norfolk 4 3 6 6 9 5 15 9 9 10 
			 North Yorkshire 7 3 6 8 7 11 10 13 11 18 
			 Northamptonshire 2 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northumbria 14 23 28 34 44 45 53 57 56 31 
			 Nottinghamshire 7 5 7 13 15 13 17 20 26 31 
			 South Yorkshire 12 12 15 20 22 37 25 18 33 41 
			 Staffordshire(3) 5 6 5 (4 )— 6 17 13 11 11 12 
			 Suffolk 4 3 8 7 6 18 15 13 16 18 
			 Surrey 3 5 2 9 11 5 4 10 5 7 
			 Sussex 6 9 9 20 24 15 24 23 27 30 
			 Thames Valley 7 12 5 7 13 13 10 18 23 36 
			 Warwickshire 2 5 4 3 3 5 4 5 5 6 
			 West Mercia 4 8 2 1 2 1 0 3 24 12 
			 West Midlands 28 25 17 41 71 62 48 67 61 71 
			 West Yorkshire 13 5 14 10 17 22 19 44 26 29 
			 Wiltshire 4 11 4 4 4 13 7 10 12 15 
			
			 Dyfed-Powys 2 4 0 4 3 5 2 3 11 7 
			 Gwent 5 2 6 4 4 2 4 11 10 12 
			 North Wales 4 5 9 10 12 17 9 7 9 10 
			 South Wales 10 11 10 15 22 18 21 15 20 20 
			 England and Wales 482 561 547 680 963 972 939 1,035 1,113 1,265 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for defendants proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. (4) Nil  Note: Data for "having an article with blade or point on school premises" exclude convictions for West Mercia PFA, until clarification of these cases is obtained.  Source:  Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice Our reference: PQ 176295 (Table 1) 
		
	
	
		
			  N umber of defendants aged 18 years and over who were convicted at all courts for illegally carrying knives, in England and Wales by police force area for the years 1997 to 2006( 1, 2, 3) 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 44 62 96 80 82 116 133 118 113 138 
			 Bedfordshire 23 31 20 34 26 38 52 61 67 50 
			 Cambridgeshire 21 29 25 13 23 35 26 56 43 57 
			 Cheshire 52 56 39 40 30 40 48 39 58 70 
			 City of London 16 8 4 8 9 17 19 20 18 11 
			 Cleveland 13 26 27 15 34 57 55 69 63 59 
			 Cumbria 22 22 25 19 17 31 36 38 33 30 
			 Derbyshire 31 22 28 35 45 53 65 83 67 63 
			 Devon and Cornwall 38 72 70 56 60 98 107 109 112 102 
			 Dorset 18 37 28 28 29 45 41 53 53 55 
			 Durham 21 24 27 32 25 59 49 49 70 65 
			 Essex 64 73 81 80 73 89 112 156 143 133 
			 Gloucestershire 13 29 15 13 19 21 24 34 33 31 
			 Greater Manchester 181 205 188 176 209 239 250 276 291 305 
			 Hampshire 78 86 75 77 79 86 108 133 129 124 
			 Hertfordshire 24 24 25 24 23 49 68 64 71 65 
			 Humberside 36 39 53 39 31 52 55 92 92 90 
			 Kent 24 61 76 61 62 29 27 12 12 6 
			 Lancashire 93 106 84 70 85 76 112 122 121 109 
			 Leicestershire 44 58 52 45 52 57 78 80 70 90 
			 Lincolnshire 16 31 47 39 37 40 60 58 47 58 
			 Merseyside 148 144 108 98 106 137 132 169 168 178 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,110 1,160 905 970 1,167 1,562 1,441 1,376 1,400 1,354 
			 Norfolk 25 47 40 30 32 54 54 61 60 52 
			 North Yorkshire 30 31 39 25 38 41 40 56 55 39 
			 Northamptonshire 4 7 14 5 3 2 2 3 6 1 
			 Northumbria 79 78 86 87 109 126 130 154 160 186 
			 Nottinghamshire 40 36 38 34 41 55 68 95 91 113 
			 South Yorkshire 41 46 48 46 92 109 122 99 136 109 
			 Staffordshire(3) 18 33 37 (4) — 28 51 50 60 49 80 
			 Suffolk 27 19 18 23 25 43 37 55 53 88 
			 Surrey 16 8 10 16 21 22 33 30 30 30 
			 Sussex 53 57 83 64 76 112 99 91 94 108 
			 Thames Valley 54 67 70 47 64 72 66 99 122 142 
			 Warwickshire 14 25 20 16 15 21 14 22 18 24 
			 West Mercia 17 30 25 21 6 9 18 18 22 31 
			 West Midlands 146 126 120 163 247 281 279 290 258 312 
			 West Yorkshire 33 33 42 47 70 81 89 128 142 143 
			 Wiltshire 17 24 28 24 32 24 33 40 41 55 
			
			 Dyfed-Powys 14 19 29 23 28 30 34 36 34 22 
			 Gwent 19 16 14 17 16 31 19 37 26 44 
			 North Wales 42 50 51 32 39 57 52 60 68 103 
			 South Wales 59 87 91 68 72 96 90 109 100 133 
			 Total 2,878 3,244 3,001 2,840 3,377 4,343 4,427 4,810 4,839 5,058 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for defendants proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. (4 )Nil  Note:  Data for "having an article with blade or point on school premises" exclude convictions for West Mercia PFA, until clarification of these cases is obtained.  Source: Court proceedings database held by RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice Our reference: PQ 176295 (Table 2).

HEALTH

Alan Johnson

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he  (a) informed the Permanent Secretary in the relevant Department of the donations he received as part of his campaign for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party and  (b) registered them with the Cabinet Office in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Alan Johnson: In accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, a list of Ministers' relevant interests declared to their permanent secretary will be published in due course.

Arthritis: Industrial Health and Safety

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase awareness of rheumatoid arthritis in the workplace; and what plans he has to issue guidance to employers on supporting employees with rheumatoid arthritis.

Ann Keen: As part of the cross-Government Health, Work and Well-being Strategy, we are working to improve the support that is available to employers to support staff with long-term conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, to obtain and to remain in work.
	This includes a free occupational health and return to work support and advice service for small and medium sized businesses, which is being piloted by the Health and Safety Executive until February 2008.
	We have also established a Vocational Rehabilitation Task Force to look at the best ways of encouraging and supporting employers to provide good quality rehabilitative services to their staff.
	We are also encouraging employers to provide good quality occupational health services and through the Health, Work and Well-being Strategy, we are working to engage employers and show them the business benefits of taking action to support their staff.

British Pregnancy Advice Service

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was paid in fees for abortions and sexual health services by the NHS to the Peterborough branch of the British Pregnancy Advice Service in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not collected centrally.

Cancer: Home Care Services

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects on patients of recent changes to the access that patients have to home-delivery of cancer-care equipment.

Ann Keen: The Department is not aware of any national changes in access to home delivery of cancer care equipment so has not made an assessment of any implications.

Cancer: Screening

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget has been allocated for each year of the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative.

Ann Keen: holding answer 16 January 2008
	 No specific central budget has been allocated for the National Awareness and Early Detection Initiative. The National Awareness and Early Detection Initiative will involve collaboration with many non-departmental organisations and charities, including the national health service, who do not report their costs to the Department. An overall budget for the initiative has not been calculated, as partners will fund different elements of the initiative.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  who is responsible for providing cardiac rehabilitation in each primary care trust in England; and where that treatment is provided;
	(2)  what the average cost of providing cardiac rehabilitation was in  (a) Surrey Primary Care Trust,  (b) the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority and (c) England following (i) a heart attack, (ii) heart bypass surgery, (iii) angioplasty, (iv) angina, (v) heart failure, (vi) implantation of cardiac devices and (vii) arrhythmias in the last 12 months;
	(3)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation services; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Chapter 7 of the "Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework," published in 2000, issued appropriate guidance to the national health service about the provision of cardiac rehabilitation services. Putting this into practice is a matter for the NHS, working in partnership with stakeholders and the local community. It is the responsibility of NHS organisations to plan, monitor and develop these services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise.
	A new National Cardiac Rehabilitation Audit has been introduced across England, jointly sponsored by the British Heart Foundation and the Healthcare Commission. This will provide stronger evidence on effectiveness and encourage local areas to appraise and improve their provision of cardiac rehabilitation.
	The Cardiac Rehabilitation Audit stated that the average rehabilitation programme costs per patient have been approximately £550, allowing for inflation, since 2001.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received on cardiac rehabilitation since June 2007; and what meetings  (a) he,  (b) his Ministers and  (c) departmental officials have had on cardiac rehabilitation in that period.

Ann Keen: The Department has regular contact with patient organisations, clinicians and other stakeholders involved in the championing and provision of cardiac rehabilitation services.

Community Equipment Programme

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  with reference to the answer of 25 July 2007,  Official Report, column 1240W, on wheelchairs, what progress has been made in publishing the outline model for wheelchair services as part of the transforming community equipment and wheelchair services programme.
	(2)  if he will make a statement on how the proposed changes under the Transforming Community Equipment and Wheelchair Services Programme will affect the staff members currently employed by the NHS who issue equipment under section 31 agreements;
	(3)  when he will report on the progress of the new delivery system of community equipment trial launched in the North West of England in October 2007;
	(4)  what the minimum competency level is for an approved or accredited retailer's staff, as mentioned in the outline model for the Community Equipment Programme.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 9 January 2008
	A collaborative process to develop an outline model for delivery of wheelchair services (similar to that undertaken for community equipment services) was undertaken in 2007 and two potential models were developed. The business case to support the recommended way forward is currently being finalised.
	It is a matter for each local authority and health partnership to decide whether the transforming community equipment and wheelchair services programme (TCEWS) retail market is the right solution for their locality. They will need to assess the impact on their employees as part of their decision making process.
	The minimum competency levels for accredited retailers have been drafted by the working group developing the regulatory function and will be finalised in April. For further information, copies of the British Health Trades Association/National Association of Equipment Providers Newsletter, have been placed in the Library.
	The TCEWS programme will be evaluating the testing of the retail model in the North West. This evaluation will be published as a report in the spring and will include the results of user views on the new model of service delivery.

Diabetes: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people with diabetes in each London health care trust was screened for diabetic retinopathy in relation to the targets outlined in the National Framework for Diabetes: Delivery Service in each year since 2003.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested has been placed in the Library. Data are only available from 2004.

Foetuses: Surgery

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals in England and Wales have equipment which enables doctors to perform keyhole surgery on unborn babies; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The data are not collected centrally.

General Practitioners

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs are registered as having a special interest, broken down by specialty.

Ann Keen: The number of general practitioners (GPs) registered as having a special interest (GPSIs) as at 30 June 2007 was 1,752. We have no data on the numbers by specialty.
	The data on the number of GPSIs is collected quarterly from all primary care trusts using the Quarterly Activity Return and it provides the numbers as at the last day of the quarter. The latest available data are for June 2007.
	 Source:
	Department of Health Quarterly Activity Return Commissioner based.

General Practitioners

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to encourage GPs to give more detailed advice on self-management programmes to patients with long-term conditions.

Ann Keen: We have no steps to specifically encourage general practitioners (GPs) to give more detailed advice on self-management programmes to patients with long-term conditions. However, the National Service Framework for Long-term Conditions sets out the quality requirement for a person-centred service to support those living with long-term conditions in managing their condition, maintaining independence and achieving the best possible quality of life. To become full partners in care, patients need information, advice, education and support. GPs have a key role to play in meeting these needs.

Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding will be allocated to each local authority to fund contracts for local involvement networks; and when this funding will be provided to each authority.

Ann Keen: Over the next three years (2008-11) each local authority (LA) with a social services responsibility will receive funding for LINks. On 7 December, the Department wrote to all LAs confirming their allocations for 2008-09, with provisional figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11.
	As set out in the comprehensive spending review settlement, from April 2008, the majority of revenue funding will be delivered to councils through the new area based grant. This area based grant is paid on an unringfenced basis to all LAs. As such LAs are able to determine locally how best to spend the grant in order to deliver local and national priorities in their areas. The area based grant will be administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government and paid to LAs on a monthly basis from the beginning of the 2008-09 financial year.
	The following table outlines how much each LA is projected to receive over the next three years, it can also be found on the Department website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/PatientAndPublicinvolvement
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Local authority  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			  Principal metropolitan cities
			 Birmingham 0.558 0.556 0.554 
			 Leeds 0.308 0.307 0.306 
			 Liverpool 0.291 0.288 0.286 
			 Manchester 0.288 0.287 0.287 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 0.171 0.170 0.168 
			 Sheffield 0.263 0.263 0.262 
			 Sub-total 1.879 1.871 1.863 
			 
			  Other metropolitan districts
			 Barnsley 0.152 0.152 0.152 
			 Bolton 0.166 0.166 0.165 
			 Bradford 0.259 0.259 0.260 
			 Bury 0.122 0.122 0.122 
			 Calderdale 0.130 0.130 0.130 
			 Coventry 0.178 0.177 0.177 
			 Doncaster 0.172 0.172 0.172 
			 Dudley 0.173 0.173 0.172 
			 Gateshead 0.140 0.139 0.138 
			 Kirklees 0.202 0.202 0.202 
			 Knowsley 0.140 0.139 0.139 
			 North Tyneside 0.134 0.134 0.134 
			 Oldham 0.151 0.151 0.151 
			 Rochdale 0.147 0.146 0.146 
			 Rotherham 0.160 0.160 0.160 
			 Salford 0.159 0.158 0.157 
			 Sandwell 0.202 0.202 0.201 
			 Sefton 0.172 0.171 0.170 
			 Solihull 0.119 0.119 0.119 
			 South Tyneside 0.127 0.126 0.126 
			 St. Helens 0.132 0.132 0.132 
			 Stockport 0.149 0.149 0.148 
			 Sunderland 0.176 0.175 0.174 
			 Tameside 0.146 0.146 0.146 
			 Trafford 0.130 0.130 0.129 
			 Wakefield 0.182 0.182 0.182 
			 Walsall 0.170 0.169 0.169 
			 Wigan 0.175 0.175 0.175 
			 Wirral 0.200 0.199 0.199 
			 Wolverhampton 0.169 0.168 0.167 
			 Sub-total 4.833 4.824 4.814 
			 
			  Inner London
			 City of London 0.063 0.063 0.064 
			 Camden 0.176 0.177 0.179 
			 Greenwich 0.188 0.188 0.188 
			 Hackney 0.207 0.207 0.206 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0.143 0.143 0.143 
			 Islington 0.170 0.170 0.169 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0.140 0.142 0.143 
			 Lambeth 0.207 0.206 0.205 
			 Lewisham 0.197 0.195 0.194 
			 Southwark 0.211 0.210 0.209 
			 Tower Hamlets 0.208 0.208 0.208 
			 Wandsworth 0.169 0.169 0.168 
			 Westminster 0.174 0.176 0.178 
			 Sub-total 2.254 2.254 2.253 
			 
			  Outer London
			 Barking and Dagenham 0.147 0.146 0.146 
			 Barnet 0.182 0.182 0.182 
			 Bexley 0.131 0.131 0.131 
			 Brent 0.185 0.185 0.184 
			 Bromley 0.151 0.151 0.150 
			 Croydon 0.188 0.188 0.187 
			 Ealing 0.183 0.182 0.182 
			 Enfield 0.179 0.179 0.178 
			 Haringey 0.172 0.171 0.171 
			 Harrow 0.138 0.138 0.138 
			 Havering 0.133 0.132 0.132 
			 Hillingdon 0.147 0.147 0.146 
			 Hounslow 0.142 0.141 0.141 
			 Kingston upon Thames 0.102 0.102 0.102 
			 Merton 0.123 0.123 0.123 
			 Newham 0.214 0.213 0.212 
			 Redbridge 0.156 0.156 0.156 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0.107 0.107 0.107 
			 Sutton 0.118 0.117 0.117 
			 Waltham Forest 0.164 0.163 0.162 
			 Sub-total 3.062 3.054 3.047 
			 
			  Shire counties
			 Bedfordshire 0.171 0.172 0.172 
			 Buckinghamshire 0.182 0.182 0.182 
			 Cambridgeshire 0.219 0.220 0.222 
			 Cheshire 0.257 0.257 0.258 
			 Cornwall 0.252 0.253 0.255 
			 Cumbria 0.232 0.232 0.232 
			 Derbyshire 0.314 0.315 0.316 
			 Devon 0.298 0.299 0.301 
			 Dorset 0.183 0.184 0.184 
			 Durham 0.256 0.255 0.255 
			 East Sussex 0.236 0.237 0.237 
			 Essex 0.480 0.482 0.484 
			 Gloucestershire 0.231 0.231 0.231 
			 Hampshire 0.378 0.379 0.381 
			 Hertfordshire 0.361 0.361 0.361 
			 Kent 0.492 0.493 0.495 
			 Lancashire 0.454 0.455 0.456 
			 Leicestershire 0.219 0.220 0.221 
			 Lincolnshire 0.285 0.287 0.290 
			 Norfolk 0.342 0.344 0.345 
			 North Yorkshire 0.222 0.222 0.223 
			 Northamptonshire 0.253 0.254 0.256 
			 Northumberland 0.165 0.165 0.165 
			 Nottinghamshire 0.304 0.305 0.306 
			 Oxfordshire 0.222 0.223 0.223 
			 Shropshire 0.150 0.150 0.151 
			 Somerset 0.226 0.227 0.228 
			 Staffordshire 0.301 0.302 0.303 
			 Suffolk 0.280 0.281 0.283 
			 Surrey 0.333 0.333 0.333 
			 Warwickshire 0.212 0.213 0.214 
			 West Sussex 0.281 0.281 0.282 
			 Wiltshire 0.181 0.182 0.183 
			 Worcestershire 0.222 0.223 0.223 
			 Sub-total 9.194 9.224 9.252 
			 
			  Shire unitary authorities
			 Bath and North East Somerset 0.109 0.109 0.109 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 0.123 0.123 0.123 
			 Blackpool 0.126 0.126 0.126 
			 Bournemouth 0.119 0.118 0.118 
			 Bracknell Forest 0.086 0.086 0.086 
			 Brighton and Hove 0.148 0.147 0.147 
			 Bristol 0.210 0.209 0.208 
			 Darlington 0.096 0.096 0.096 
			 Derby 0.150 0.149 0.149 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 0.158 0.159 0.159 
			 Halton 0.111 0.110 0.110 
			 Hartlepool 0.099 0.099 0.099 
			 Herefordshire 0.119 0.119 0.119 
			 Isle of Wight Council 0.115 0.115 0.116 
			 Isles of Scilly 0.061 0.061 0.061 
			 Kingston upon Hull 0.173 0.172 0.171 
			 Leicester 0.186 0.185 0.184 
			 Luton 0.131 0.131 0.131 
			 Medway 0.136 0.136 0.136 
			 Middlesbrough 0.122 0.121 0.121 
			 Milton Keynes 0.129 0.130 0.131 
			 North East Lincolnshire 0.120 0.120 0.120 
			 North Lincolnshire 0.114 0.114 0.114 
			 North Somerset 0.121 0.122 0.123 
			 Nottingham 0.184 0.183 0.182 
			 Peterborough 0.122 0.122 0.123 
			 Plymouth 0.151 0.151 0.151 
			 Poole 0.103 0.102 0.102 
			 Portsmouth 0.125 0.125 0.125 
			 Reading 0.104 0.104 0.103 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 0.116 0.116 0.116 
			 Rutland 0.069 0.069 0.069 
			 Slough 0.104 0.103 0.103 
			 South Gloucestershire 0.124 0.124 0.125 
			 Southampton 0.141 0.141 0.141 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0.123 0.123 0.123 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 0.126 0.126 0.126 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 0.163 0.162 0.161 
			 Swindon 0.112 0.112 0.112 
			 Telford and The Wrekin 0.119 0.120 0.120 
			 Thurrock 0.111 0.112 0.112 
			 Torbay 0.119 0.120 0.120 
			 Warrington 0.117 0.117 0.117 
			 West Berkshire 0.095 0.095 0.095 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 0.093 0.093 0.093 
			 Wokingham 0.087 0.088 0.088 
			 York 0.108 0.108 0.108 
			 Sub-total 5.778 5.774 5.771

Hepatology: Consultants

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultants specialising in hepatology there are; and how many there were in  (a) 1996,  (b) 1998,  (c) 2001,  (d) 2005 and  (e) 2006.

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.

Hospital Wards: Gender

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the use of mixed sex wards to end in the NHS.

Ann Keen: Guidance issued to the national health service requires the provision of single sex accommodation, which can take a number of forms. NHS trusts may provide single rooms, single sex bays within a mixed ward, single sex wards or combinations of these types. We do not collect information on the number of trusts who have mixed sex wards per se.
	The NHS Operating Framework for 2008-09 includes a requirement for primary care trusts to agree, publish and implement stretching local plans for improvement, with identified time scales and monitoring mechanisms. The NHS Institute for Improvement and Innovation published guidance in December 2007 to support the NHS in delivering this.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of  (a) MRSA infection and  (b) clostridium difficile infection have been diagnosed in staff working in the NHS in each of the last three years.

Ann Keen: The Health Protection Agency collects data on all cases of methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections and cases of  C. difficile infection in patients aged two and over in acute national health service trusts in England through the mandatory surveillance scheme but this does not include information about whether patients are also NHS staff.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place for routine screening of NHS staff for  (a) MRSA infection and  (b) clostridium difficile.

Ann Keen: Current guidance does not recommend routine screening of healthcare staff for either of these infections.
	Universal screening of patients for methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is being introduced because there is evidence that it can contribute to reducing MRSA infection rates. Expert advice is that routine screening of staff is not indicated, and therefore not recommended but may be used to help control or investigate an outbreak.
	The current clinical evidence does not suggest that universal screening of staff for  Clostridium difficile would be clinically, or cost, effective as individuals without symptoms are not considered to present an increased risk of infecting others.

Liver Diseases

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group had (i) coronary artery disease and (ii) liver cancer in (A) Southend, (B) Essex and (C) England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Ann Keen: The Department is not able to provide prevalence data on coronary artery disease in the form requested. However, the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) dataset does provide the number of patients with coronary artery disease (termed coronary heart disease (CHD) in the QOF). This dataset does not separate men and women and does not hold data on the age of the patients. The data are available only from the financial year 2004-05. Only practices in England who participate in QOF are included. The number of patients is shown in the following table.
	The Office for National Statistics have provided data for liver cancer in the following tables.
	
		
			  Quality and Outcomes Framework data 
			  Number of patients with CHD  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Southend 6,015 6,158 (1)— 
			 Essex 56,620 58,289 (2)58,857 
			 England 1,893,184 1,900,640 1,898,565 
			 (1 )Southend PCT was abolished in October 2007 when it merged with Castle Point and Rochford; separate data are not available. (2 )Essex strategic health authority was abolished in July 2007. This figure is an estimate obtained by adding together figures for the primary care trusts south east Essex, south west Essex, west Essex, north east Essex and mid Essex. 
		
	
	
		
			  Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of liver cancer( 1) , by sex, Southend unitary authority, 1996 to 2005 
			   Males  Females 
			 1996 4 3 
			 1997 3 3 
			 1998 5 3 
			 1999 4 2 
			 2000 2 4 
			 2001 2 5 
			 2002 8 4 
			 2003 5 2 
			 2004 4 5 
			 2005 2 2 
			 (1 )Liver cancer is coded to C22 in the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10). The numbers by age group for Southend and Essex would be disclosive, so only 'all ages' for Southend and two age groups for Essex have been provided.  Source:  Office for National Statistics 
		
	
	
		
			  Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of liver cancer( 1) , by sex and age group: Essex county, 1996 to 2005 
			  Age group  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			  Males   
			 0-74 13 13 15 14 23 14 18 15 16 18 
			 75+ 5 7 11 12 14 7 7 8 14 9 
			 All ages 18 20 26 26 37 21 25 23 30 27 
			
			  Females   
			 0-74 7 10 6 7 12 7 9 3 4 5 
			 75+ 3 5 9 5 12 6 8 9 11 14 
			 All ages 10 15 15 12 24 13 17 12 15 19 
			 (1 )Liver cancer is coded to C22 in the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10).  Source:  Office for National Statistics 
		
	
	
		
			  Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of liver cancer( 1) , by sex and age group, England, 1996 to 2005 
			  Age group  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			  Males   
			 Under 1 3 2 2 2 3 6 3 3 2 2 
			 1-4 4 8 2 2 3 7 6 6 4 5 
			 5-9 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 3 1 
			 10-14 0 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 2 
			 15-19 1 1 3 2 3 1 4 0 4 2 
			 20-24 2 5 2 3 5 1 1 1 5 4 
			 25-29 1 4 2 4 4 10 3 2 7 4 
			 30-34 5 5 5 8 7 11 9 6 11 4 
			 35-39 8 12 11 12 23 9 8 10 8 10 
			 40-44 24 17 21 16 23 26 24 30 23 23 
			 45-49 33 31 37 53 54 46 50 51 43 51 
			 50-54 58 59 72 79 70 84 81 80 58 96 
			 55-59 80 82 85 110 115 115 103 126 124 159 
			 60-64 124 132 150 139 147 146 139 143 153 179 
			 65-69 171 192 167 168 204 177 203 228 201 225 
			 70-74 190 187 216 189 258 208 252 229 214 260 
			 75-79 183 183 209 209 224 212 251 235 262 244 
			 80-84 109 111 120 122 127 121 169 158 172 203 
			 85+ 63 77 63 81 80 111 114 109 90 125 
			 All ages 1,059 1,111 1,169 1,201 1,352 1,292 1,424 1,419 1,385 1,599 
			
			  Females   
			 Under 1 2 2 2 1 1 4 2 2 2 2 
			 1-4 3 1 2 4 3 4 4 4 2 4 
			 5-9 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 
			 10-14 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 2 3 0 
			 15-19 2 1 1 0 2 3 4 3 1 4 
			 20-24 1 2 1 4 2 0 2 6 3 3 
			 25-29 2 4 3 1 4 3 0 0 1 1 
			 30-34 5 2 3 4 3 2 3 3 11 3 
			 35-39 7 7 3 8 5 6 8 3 9 4 
			 40-44 10 5 10 11 8 12 13 9 11 8 
			 45-49 14 23 13 19 21 9 21 24 20 23 
			 50-54 29 32 25 39 30 32 30 29 46 34 
			 55-59 36 38 38 37 39 48 60 46 50 55 
			 60-64 66 51 60 63 70 69 56 53 57 67 
			 65-69 82 101 93 87 96 95 106 99 97 117 
			 70-74 136 128 133 111 139 139 131 120 140 127 
			 75-79 116 147 152 138 155 191 143 149 154 169 
			 80-84 121 126 112 120 138 155 170 170 185 179 
			 85+ 117 143 143 118 157 141 179 150 153 185 
			 All ages 751 814 796 768 875 913 932 872 947 985 
			 (1) Liver cancer is coded to C22 in the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10)  Source:  Office for National Statistics

Maternity Units

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2007,  Official Report, column 504W, on maternity units, how many of each type of unit  (a) opened and  (b) closed in each year listed; and how many delivery beds were available in each type of unit in each year.

Ann Keen: That information is not collected centrally.

National Service Framework for Older People: Osteoporosis

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the implementation of the recommendations for osteoporosis services contained in the National Service Framework for Older People.

Ivan Lewis: Progress in implementation of the recommendations contained in the National Service Framework for Older People, including those for osteoporosis services, is detailed in "A New Ambition for Old Age: Next steps in implementing the National Service Framework for Older People" published in April 2006. This publication was issued at the mid-way point of the 10-year National Service Framework for Older People.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 November 2007,  Official Report, column 377WA, on Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body, what the assumptions were behind his Department's central estimate of NHS cost pressures; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the underlying data.

Ann Keen: The central estimate for cost pressures, net of efficiency, on the NHS hospital and community health services in England for 2008-09 are 2.3 per cent. The underlying assumptions and data are set out in annex A of the 2008-09 Payment by Results guidance, a copy of which is available in the Library. Annex A is as follows:
	
		
			  Breakdown of 2008-09 tariff uplift 
			   2008-09 over 2007-08 baseline  
			   £ million  Percentage  Assumptions 
			 Baseline 59,540 — — 
			  Increase in pay and prices
			 Pay 1,640 2.8 Pay settlement in line with DH recommendation to the Pay Review Bodies: 1.5 per cent. doctors' and dentists' and 2 per cent. NHS PRB. Also include pay drift and staging. 
			 Non-pay inflation 350 0.6 GDP deflator at 2.75 per cent. 
			 Drugs 400 0.7 Includes NICE 
			 Clinical Negligence 210 0.4 Forecast local contributions 
			 Revenue cost of capital 210 0.4 PFI; depreciation; cost of capital 
			 Gross pay and price 2,810 4.7 — 
			 
			 Efficiency -1,790 -3.0 Assumes 3.0 per cent. efficiency 
			 
			 Net pay and price 1,020 1.7 — 
			 Quality and reform 330 0.6 To cover costs of tackling health care associated infections, pay reform/legislation, staff security and local cost of delivering the Information Management and Technology programme. 
			 Overall — 2.3 — 
			  Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total overall funding allocation to primary care trusts was in each year since 2002-03; and what proportion of the total NHS budget this represented in each year.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 17 December 2007
	The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Revenue allocations as a percentage of the total national health service revenue budget 
			   NHS revenue budget( 1 ) (£ billion)  Revenue Allocations( 2, 3)( ) (£ billion)  Revenue allocations as percentage of NHS budget 
			 2002-03 51.935 41.468 80 
			 2003-04 61.866 45.027 73 
			 2004-05 66.874 49.328 74 
			 2005-06 74.168 53.925 73 
			 2006-07 78.356 64.310 82 
			 2007-08 86.848 70.355 81 
			 2008-09(4) 92.642 75.880 82 
			 (1) 2002-03 to 2005-06 figures are outturn (the actual year end position), 2006-07 and 2007-08 figures are estimated outturn, and 2008-09 is plan.  (2) Allocations were to health authorities in 2002-03 and to primary care trusts from 2003-04.  (3) 2002-03 allocations were announced on 6 December 2001, 2003-04 to 2005-06 allocations on 18 December 2002, 2006-07 and 2007-08 allocations on 9 February 2005 and 2008-09 allocations on 13 December 2007.  (4) Includes the £1.7 billion budgets which were issued alongside primary care trust allocations and which will be made recurrent from 2009-10.

NHS: Management

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average management costs were for all NHS trusts in England in  (a) cash terms and  (b) as a percentage of the trust's income in 2006-07; and which 10 trusts have the highest management costs (i) in cash terms and (ii) as a percentage of the trust's income.

Ben Bradshaw: Information on management costs for national health service trusts, in expenditure terms and as a percentage of NHS trust income, for 2006-07, is included at table 1.
	Information on the 10 NHS trusts with the highest expenditure on management costs and the highest management costs as a percentage of the NHS trusts' income for 2006-07 is included at tables 2 and 3.
	Total NHS trust spend on management costs in 2006-07 equated to 3.1 per cent. of turnover.
	
		
			  Table 1: Management costs NHS trusts 2006-07 
			   Total senior managers and managers (Thousand)  Total income ( £000 )  As percentage of income 
			 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust 4,247 93,684 4.5 
			 Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,876 65,740 2.9 
			 Airedale NHS Trust 3,477 98,756 3.5 
			 Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust 5,698 179,522 3.2 
			 Avon and Wiltshire MHP NHS Trust 7,078 183,168 3.9 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hosp NHS Trust 11,173 351,780 3.2 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 6,647 252,942 2.6 
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey MH NHS Trust 4,314 182,204 2.4 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 19,496 546,677 3.6 
			 Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,417 82,146 2.9 
			 Bedford Hospitals NHS Trust 3,130 114,529 2.7 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton MH and Social Care NHS Trust 4,986 81,439 6.1 
			 Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust 2,290 102,244 2.2 
			 Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS trust 9,503 211,234 4.5 
			 Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4,890 123,046 4.0 
			 Birmingham Women's Health Care NHS Trust 3,984 69,695 5.7 
			 Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust 6,614 237,748 2.8 
			 Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust 3,032 158,201 1.9 
			 Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health NHS Trust 6,763 117,388 5.8 
			 Bradford District Care NHS Trust 5,373 118,831 4.5 
			 Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust 7,986 326,320 2.4 
			 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 5,115 157,913 3.2 
			 Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust 8,272 252,488 3.3 
			 Burton Hospitals NHS Trust 3,967 114,024 3.5 
			 Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust 2,938 83,735 3.5 
			 Calderstones NHS Trust 1,519 43,550 3.5 
			 Cambridge and Peterborough MH Partnership NHS Trust 8,108 129,733 6.2 
			 Camden and Islington Mental Health Social Care NHS Trust 6,467 133,535 4.8 
			 Central Manchester/ Manchester Child NHS Trust 11,469 510,848 2.2 
			 Central and North West London MH NHS Trust 8,005 183,705 4.4 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 2,328 117,351 2.0 
			 Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust 4,359 108,569 4.0 
			 Christie Hospital NHS Trust 3,193 131,499 2.4 
			 Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Foundation Trust 539 15,822 3.4 
			 Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust 4,865 88,082 5.5 
			 County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust 6,318 237,449 2.7 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust 894 72,161 1.2 
			 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust 3,228 112,391 2.9 
			 Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust 4,852 91,407 5.3 
			 Devon Partnership NHS Trust 5,221 105,518 4.9 
			 Doncaster and South Humber Healthcare NHS Trust 2,836 90,560 3.1 
			 Dorset Health Care NHS Trust 1,468 75,129 2.0 
			 Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust 4,245 199,545 2.1 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust 4,297 115,249 3.7 
			 East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 3,937 270,257 1.5 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 2,190 96,776 2.3 
			 East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust 5,871 363,619 1.6 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 5,688 289,933 2.0 
			 East London and The City MH NHS Trust 6,449 162,487 4.0 
			 East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 5,658 125,020 4.5 
			 East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust 6,303 189,026 3.3 
			 East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust 1,801 235,415 0.8 
			 Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 5,440 272,854 2.0 
			 Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust 3,660 175,023 2.1 
			 George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust 2,120 93,496 2.3 
			 Gloucestershire Partnership NHS Trust 3,246 74,593 4.4 
			 Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust 3,800 133,839 2.8 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust 6,127 247,048 2.5 
			 Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust 3,695 61,938 6.0 
			 Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 10,135 500,269 2.0 
			 Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust 5,932 177,342 3.3 
			 Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust 5,937 183,937 3.2 
			 Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust 2,243 93,562 2.4 
			 Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust 4,114 174,252 2.4 
			 Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust 3,198 72,357 4.4 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 9,545 366,964 2.6 
			 Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust 5,206 73,096 7.1 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 5,906 182,029 3.2 
			 James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2,010 43,183 4.7 
			 Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust 5,816 183,877 3.2 
			 Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust 6,169 129,523 4.8 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,034 279,749 0.4 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 5,777 163,728 3.5 
			 Lancashire Care NHS Trust 5,432 152,632 3.6 
			 Leeds Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust 6,476 103,967 6.2 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 20,267 757,446 2.7 
			 Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust 7,134 133,189 5.4 
			 Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust 6,292 87,002 7.2 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 32,474 215,941 15.0 
			 Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,071 51,567 2.1 
			 Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 8,782 243,218 3.6 
			 Manchester Health and Social Care NHS Trust 2,721 85,309 3.2 
			 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust 5,200 166,030 3.1 
			 Medway NHS Trust 3,002 165,019 1.8 
			 Mersey Care NHS Trust 6,349 194,010 3.3 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 5,577 185,931 3.0 
			 Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust 4,017 125,643 3.2 
			 Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 10,192 309,100 3.3 
			 Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS Trust 3,085 119,419 2.6 
			 North Essex Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 4,647 120,184 3.9 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 1,319 95,604 1.4 
			 Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 4,587 136,442 3.4 
			 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust 6,710 311,235 2.2 
			 Norfolk and Waveney MH Partnership NHS Trust 3,548 103,662 3.4 
			 North Bristol NHS Trust 13,134 381,729 3.4 
			 North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 2,356 158,464 1.5 
			 North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 3,498 182,406 1.9 
			 North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust 1,831 73,369 2.5 
			 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 6,576 104,580 6.3 
			 North Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust 3,284 237,750 1.4 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 4,036 138,831 2.9 
			 North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust 5,690 90,092 6.3 
			 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust 3,937 191,038 2.1 
			 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 15,748 196,642 8.0 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 7,634 295,886 2.6 
			 Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust 5,366 174,041 3.1 
			 Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust 4,129 98,113 4.2 
			 Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust 942 89,547 1.1 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust 8,914 279,721 3.2 
			 Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2,024 85,966 2.4 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 14,094 583,794 2.4 
			 Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 10,224 258,890 3.9 
			 North Cumbria MH and Learning Disabilities NHS Trust 2,412 49,418 4.9 
			 Nuffield Orthopaedic NHS Trust 2,488 81,122 3.1 
			 Oxford Learning Disability NHS Trust 918 35,743 2.6 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust 13,252 484,559 2.7 
			 Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire MH Partnership NHS Trust 730 142,629 0.5 
			 Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust 617 13,389 4.6 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 11,514 473,696 2.4 
			 Pennine Care NHS Trust 5,623 101,975 5.5 
			 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 7,588 315,873 2.4 
			 Poole Hospitals NHS Trust 3,596 148,258 2.4 
			 Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 10,945 372,407 2.9 
			 Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 3,743 136,763 2.7 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust 2,621 113,469 2.3 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 4,362 147,525 3.0 
			 Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 2,673 100,149 2.7 
			 Rob Jones and A Hunt Orthopaedic NHS Trust 2,128 58,702 3.6 
			 Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 908 36,483 2.5 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust 1,239 212,762 0.6 
			 Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 3,377 234,384 1.4 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 6,891 390,359 1.8 
			 Royal Liverpool Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust 6,822 314,114 2.2 
			 Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust 1,551 134,725 1.2 
			 Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 1,135 45,129 2.5 
			 Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust 6,312 151,844 4.2 
			 Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust 4,488 177,619 2.5 
			 Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust 6,613 234,507 2.8 
			 Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust 2,382 75,353 3.2 
			 Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust 943 23,316 4.0 
			 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 13,680 327,536 4.2 
			 Sandwell MH Social Care NHS Trust 1,768 46,254 3.8 
			 Scarborough and North East Yorks NHS Trust 2,058 94,870 2.2 
			 Sheffield Care NHS Trust 6,660 102,875 6.5 
			 Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust 197 27,436 0.7 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 3,944 149,832 2.6 
			 Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 4,898 205,748 2.4 
			 Somerset Partnership NHS and Soc Care NHS Trust 1,350 53,335 2.5 
			 South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust 8,682 102,485 8.5 
			 South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 5,809 153,267 3.8 
			 South Downs Health NHS Trust 952 70,732 1.3 
			 South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust 5,488 127,647 4.3 
			 South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 373 8,001 4.7 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust 4,608 187,717 2.5 
			 South Staffordshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 464 7,102 6.5 
			 South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust 7,561 364,589 2.1 
			 South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust 2,423 103,564 2.3 
			 South West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2,169 104,602 2.1 
			 South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust 1,874 99,779 1.9 
			 Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust 14,181 388,522 3.6 
			 Southend University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 838 34,396 2.4 
			 Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust 4,737 124,537 3.8 
			 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 7,041 384,146 1.8 
			 St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 4,155 197,085 2.1 
			 St. Mary's NHS Trust 7,445 291,303 2.6 
			 Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 1,646 28,401 5.8 
			 Suffolk MH Partnership NHS Trust 3,916 83,579 4.7 
			 Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust 7,523 167,037 4.5 
			 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 6,244 163,297 3.8 
			 Sussex Partnership NHS Trust 7,938 201,260 3.9 
			 South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust 7,191 168,595 4.3 
			 Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust 3,746 160,740 2.3 
			 Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust 2,831 113,292 2.5 
			 Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust 6,086 165,557 3.7 
			 Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 589 13,540 4.4 
			 Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust 9,522 203,373 4.7 
			 The Cardiothoracic Centre—Liverpool NHS Trust 2,021 82,922 2.4 
			 The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 878 151,405 0.6 
			 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust 3,511 172,464 2.0 
			 The Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 4,153 123,303 3.4 
			 The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 2,448 75,629 3.2 
			 The Royal West Sussex NHS Trust 5,038 113,962 4.4 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 2,545 84,818 3.0 
			 United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust 14,740 372,526 4.0 
			 United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 8,393 294,154 2.9 
			 University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 10,632 408,461 2.6 
			 University Hospital of North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust 7,280 333,855 2.2 
			 University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust 3,448 149,384 2.3 
			 University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 18,716 588,666 3.2 
			 University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust 7,230 211,221 3.4 
			 Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust 2,897 149,144 1.9 
			 Walton Neurology Centre NHS Trust 1,785 47,868 3.7 
			 West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust 1,863 116,171 1.6 
			 West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust 5,049 218,248 2.3 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust 10,715 227,420 4.7 
			 West Middlesex University NHS Trust 3,937 118,854 3.3 
			 West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 6,168 118,362 5.2 
			 West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust 476 116,264 0.4 
			 Weston Area Health NHS Trust 1,800 70,300 2.6 
			 Whipps Cross University Hosp NHS Trust 7,116 186,752 3.8 
			 Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 3,727 142,389 2.6 
			 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust 7,148 126,807 5.6 
			 Wirral Hospital NHS Trust 1,827 231,550 0.8 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 7,761 263,801 2.9 
			 Worcestershire MH Partnership NHS Trust 3,034 56,750 5.3 
			 Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust 4,779 143,397 3.3 
			 Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust 3,632 199,081 1.8 
			 Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 431 13,592 3.2 
			 York Hospitals NHS Trust 7,406 180,026 4.1 
			 Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 7,130 144,639 4.9 
			 
			 England 1,098,955 35,832,646 3.1 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Top 10 NHS trusts with highest management costs 
			   Total senior managers and managers (Thousand)  Total income ( £000 )  As percentage of income 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 32,474 215,941 15.0 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 20,267 757,446 2.7 
			 Barts and The London NHS Trust 19,496 546,677 3.6 
			 University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 18,716 588,666 3.2 
			 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 15,748 196,642 8.0 
			 United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust 14,740 372,526 4.0 
			 Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust 14,181 388,522 3.6 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 14,094 583,794 2.4 
			 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 13,680 327,536 4.2 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust 13,252 484,559 2.7 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Top 10 NHS trusts with highest management costs as percentage of income 
			   Total senior managers and managers (Thousand)  Total income ( £000 )  As percentage of income 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 32,474 215,941 15.0 
			 South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust 8,682 102,485 8.5 
			 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust 15,748 196,642 8.0 
			 Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust 6,292 87,002 7.2 
			 Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust 5,206 73,096 7.1 
			 South Staffordshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 464 7,102 6.5 
			 Sheffield Care NHS Trust 6,660 102,875 6.5 
			 North Staffordshire Combined HC NHS Trust 5,690 90,092 6.3 
			 North East London Mental Health NHS Trust 6,576 104,580 6.3 
			 Cambridge and Peterborough MH Partnership NHS Trust 8,108 129,733 6.2 
			  Note: Information for NHS Foundation Trusts is not included. For those trusts which moved to foundation trust status during the year the data included in the tables relate to the part year before the move took place.  Sources: Annual financial returns (unaudited) of NHS Trusts 2006-07—Total senior managers and managers Audited NHS Trust summarisation schedules 2006-07—Total income.

Primary Care Trusts

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to enable Surrey Primary Care Trust to meet the Government's commitment that  (a) by the end of 2007 all diabetic patients will have been offered comprehensive retinal screening followed by a programme of treatment for diabetic retinopathy if needed and  (b) by the end of March 2008, 80 per cent. of patients will have been screened.

Ann Keen: The Department has a range of work in hand to support the national health service in delivering this target. Strategic health authorities (SHAs) actively performance manage primary care trusts (PCTs) to ensure they have arrangements in place to ensure delivery. All PCTs are monitored on their progress towards achieving the target. The target is included within the Local Delivery Plan Agreements between SHA and PCTs (which are reviewed quarterly through a data return).

Primary Care Trusts

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients were offered cardiac rehabilitation in  (a) Surrey Primary Care Trust,  (b) the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority and  (c) England following (i) a heart attack, (ii) heart bypass surgery, (iii) angioplasty, (iv) angina, (v) heart failure, (vi) implantation of cardiac devices and (vii) arrhythmias in the last 12 months.

Ann Keen: The Department does not collect this information centrally.
	Chapter 7 of the "Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework," published in 2000, issued appropriate guidance to the national health service about the provision of cardiac rehabilitation services. Putting this into practice is a matter for the NHS, working in partnership with stakeholders and the local community. It is the responsibility of NHS organisations to plan, monitor and develop these services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise.
	A new national Cardiac Rehabilitation Audit has been introduced across England, jointly sponsored by the British Heart Foundation and the Healthcare Commission. This will provide stronger evidence on effectiveness and encourage local areas to appraise and improve their provision of cardiac rehabilitation.

Primary Care Trusts

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his responsibilities and the responsibilities of  (a) primary care trusts,  (b) acute hospital trusts,  (c) local authorities,  (d) national expert clinical bodies,  (e) local clinicians and  (f) public and patient involvement panels are in the configuration of health services and hospital services;
	(2)  what the procedure is for the reconfiguration of local health services.

Ann Keen: Proposals for the reconfiguration of services are a matter for the national health service locally, working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders. The interim report on the NHS Next Stage Review recommends that change should only be initiated when there is a clear and strong clinical basis for doing so.
	Reconfiguration proposals are currently subject to a three-month public consultation. The outcome is then subject to scrutiny by local authority Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs), comprising elected councillors.
	Where OSCs are unhappy with the consultation process, or do not believe that the changes being proposed are in the interests of the local health service, they can refer the proposals to the Secretary of State for final decision.
	On 4 July 2007, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Alan Johnson) announced that he would seek the advice of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, established to advise on contested service change proposals, on all cases referred to him by OSCs.
	Very few local reconfiguration decisions are referred to the Secretary of State but such scrutiny will ensure that proposals are made in the best interest of clinical need and patient care.

Sheep Meat: Safety

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to regularise the trade in prepared sheep meat, known as smokies; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency is investigating whether it is possible to produce 'skin-on' sheep meat, known as smokies, in slaughterhouses using safe and hygienic processes. If sufficient supporting evidence is generated it is intended to approach the European Commission to suggest a change in the current law.

Sheep Meat: Safety

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the value of the illegal trade in prepared sheep meat, known as smokies;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the total value of the market in prepared sheep meat, known as smokies.

Dawn Primarolo: No estimate has been made of the value of the total illegal trade and the total value of the market in prepared sheep meat known as smokies.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Post Office Closures

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make a statement on the impact of post office closures on vulnerable people and rural communities.

Patrick McFadden: It is because the Government appreciates the important social and community role of post offices that we have committed a subsidy of £150 million per year between now and 2011. Where post office closures are taking place, Post Office Ltd. takes into account the location of alternative branches, as well as the access criteria which are intended to ensure reasonable access in both rural and urban areas and include special protections for deprived urban, rural and remote communities.

Post Office Closures

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions he has had with the Post Office on the length and timing of the consultation period for closures of sub-post offices.

Patrick McFadden: The Government's response to the national public consultation on the post office network, published in May 2007, confirmed that the period for local consultations on proposals for post office closures would be six weeks.
	Before that local public consultation begins there are discussions in each area with Postwatch, with local authorities and with sub-postmasters themselves.
	We have received representations to make the local consultations longer but we are keen to minimise the uncertainty over the network and for sub-postmasters and mindful that the process overall will take some 15 months from beginning to end.

Post Office Closures

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make a statement on the Post Office closure programme.

Patrick McFadden: The process began in October and is being carried out through a series of area plans over a 15 month period. So far, decisions on six area plans have been announced, four have been closed but final decisions have not yet been made and a further four are currently open. We are about a quarter way through the process which is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

Business Start-ups

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what percentage of small businesses closed within three years of starting up in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: 29 per cent. of UK businesses registering for VAT in 2002 were no longer registered three years later.

Business Start-ups

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assistance his Department provides for the start-up of small businesses.

Stephen Timms: Business support to a value of two and a half billion pounds per year, including start-up support, is delivered through regional development agencies and business link.

Unscrupulous Lending

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he is taking to prevent unscrupulous lending practices.

Gareth Thomas: In 2004 we established two pilot enforcement teams in Birmingham and Glasgow to track down and prosecute illegal money lenders, who were exploiting some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.
	Following the success of these pilots I announced in September a national expansion this crack down on illegal lending and there is now a team covering every region of Britain.

Nuclear Power

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his policy is on the financing of waste management from new nuclear power stations.

Malcolm Wicks: As my right hon. Friend made clear in the House on 10 January, it will be for energy companies, not the Government, to fund, develop and build new nuclear power stations. That will include meeting the full costs of decommissioning and each operator's full share of the waste management costs. The Energy Bill includes provisions to ensure that this happens.

Offshore Wind Technology

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Executive on the use of offshore wind technology.

Malcolm Wicks: BERR has a range of mechanisms in place to facilitate a dialogue with the Scottish Executive regarding offshore wind technology. For example, in recent months, through ministerial correspondence and significant day to day contact at official level. In addition, BERR and Scottish Executive Ministers and officials participate regularly in Government renewables forums, such as BERR's Research Advisory Board (RAB) and the Forum for Renewable Energy Developments in Scotland (FREDS).

Offshore Wind Technology

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, what procedures his Department has for taking account of local opinion in its consideration of applications for wind farms.

Malcolm Wicks: Companies submitting applications for wind farms to the Secretary of State are required to publicise their proposals. The Secretary of State will take all representations received into account before reaching a decision. Where a local authority objects to an onshore wind farm application within its boundaries, the Secretary of State is obliged to call a public inquiry.

Political Funds

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what role his Department and the Certification Officer play in regulating trade union political funds and donations to political parties.

Patrick McFadden: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has no regulatory role in these areas. The Certification Officer has a number of statutory functions relating to political funds and the financial affairs of trade unions.

Fuel Poverty

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of recent trends in fuel poverty.

Malcolm Wicks: Since 1996, we have made good progress towards our targets on fuel poverty. Most recent figures show there are approximately 2.5 million households in fuel poverty in the UK in 2005. This is around four million fewer than in 1996, but represents an increase of 0.5 million households since 2004, reflecting the impact of rising energy prices on fuel poverty. While initiatives to tackle fuel poverty have helped millions of households, recent trends in energy prices present a significant challenge.

Exports: China

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to assist UK exports to China.

Gareth Thomas: The Department, together with UK Trade and Investment, assists UK exports to China in many ways, largely through its partnership with the China-Britain Business Council and by nurturing the already strong bilateral relationships during ministerial visits in order to retain the UK as China's preferred partner in Europe.

Employment Agencies

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to improve the regulation of temporary worker employment agencies; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Last December, Amendment Regulations to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 were approved by both Houses. These implement additional measures to protect vulnerable agency workers and come into force on 6 April.
	We are also proposing measures in the current Employment Bill to increase penalties for offences against the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and to improve investigative and enforcement powers for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
	Last September we also announced our intention to double the number of Employment Agency standards inspectors: recruitment processes are already in train.

Regulation

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, when he next expects to meet small business groups to discuss regulatory burdens.

Stephen Timms: I shall be meeting small business representative bodies on Monday to discuss the forthcoming enterprise White Paper, and regulation may well be one of the topics raised.

Accountancy: Tax Avoidance

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what powers he has to investigate the affairs of accountancy firms which have been found to be selling tax avoidance schemes which have been declared unlawful by tax tribunals.

Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply
	The Government are committed to protecting the tax system against tax avoidance and ensuring that all taxpayers pay their fair share of tax.
	The Tax Avoidance Disclosure regime means that those selling avoidance schemes have a direct obligation to provide information about ("disclose") a scheme to HMRC if it falls within certain descriptions. The Finance Act 2007 gave HMRC new powers to inquire into a promoter it reasonably suspects of failing to disclose a scheme if required
	Aside from this, HMRC's powers in relation to third parties (including those who sell avoidance schemes) are generally restricted to collecting information relating to the tax payable by the individual or corporate taxpayer. Powers to inquire into the affairs of an agent are generally restricted to instances of criminal behaviour by the agent.
	It is not illegal to sell tax avoidance schemes, whether or not they are successful in their aim of avoiding tax.

Nuclear Power Stations: Contracts

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, what steps he will take to ensure that UK firms can bid for contracts to undertake work on nuclear power stations developed by foreign owned companies.

Malcolm Wicks: We have invited companies to bring forward proposals to build new nuclear power stations.
	It will be for the private sector to manage these projects, and we are keen that the market chooses the best options for all parts of the projects. Government should not impose conditions on any part of the process that are not designed to ensure that this objective is met.

Political Levy

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how the Certification Officer oversees political funds and finances of trades unions.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 16 January 2008
	 The certification officer determines complaints brought by members alleging breaches of political fund rules or about the conduct of political fund ballots or the application of general funds for political purposes. He also considers for approval the draft political fund rules of a trade union and the draft rules for ballots concerning political funds.
	The certification officer receives, examines and makes available for inspection the annual returns of the financial affairs of trade unions, which include accounts of political funds. I refer to my answer to question 2007/968 about the certification officer's treatment of the annual returns of trade unions. He may, in specified circumstances, appoint an inspector to investigate and report upon the financial affairs of a trade union (except certain federated trade unions). He may also, if he thinks there is good reason to do so, require a trade union to produce relevant documents and explanations of the documents.

Political Levy

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of the Certification Officer's time is spent overseeing political funds and finances of trades unions.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 16 January 2008
	 The certification officer (CO) estimates in broad terms the proportion of time spent by his staff (not including the CO's time) in certain areas of his statutory duties. His annual reports for the past five years show the following in relation to the proportion of time spent by his staff on finances of trade unions and political funds. The column headed 'Political Funds' will mainly relate to the approval of political fund ballot rules and political funds rules. However, some political fund work may also be included in the other two columns.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  1 April to 31 March  Political funds  Annual returns of trade unions and employers' associations and the maintenance of the lists of TUs and EAS  Complaints and trade union finances 
			 2002-03 (1)2 57 37 
			 2003-04 5 50 41 
			 2004-05 7 51 35 
			 2005-06 2.5 57 35 
			 2006-07 2 54 41 
			 (1) Political funds and trade union independence

Trade Unions

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Certification Officer may take to investigate the affairs of a trade union.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 16 January 2008
	 The certification officer has no statutory authority to undertake general investigations into the affairs of trade unions. He may, in specified circumstances, appoint inspectors to investigate and report upon the financial affairs of a trade union (except certain federated trade unions). He may also, if he thinks there is good reason to do so, require a trade union to produce relevant documents and explanations of the documents.

Trade Unions: Complaints

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many hearings before the Certification Officer were held to consider complaints against trades unions in each of the last five calendar years.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 16 January 2008
	The following table shows the number of hearings before the Certification Officer that were held to consider complaints against trades unions in each of the last five calendar years:
	
		
			  1 January to 31 December  Number of hearings 
			 2003 13 
			 2004 12 
			 2005 11 
			 2006 14 
			 2007 14

Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2008,  Official Report, column 684W, on the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, what steps he plans to take to strengthen consumer protection from misleading copycat packaging once the regulations come into force; and what assessment he has made of the capacity of Trading Standards to enforce the regulations.

Gareth Thomas: The Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards Services will have a duty to enforce the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) implementing the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The Government believe that these enforcement arrangements suffice to adequately enforce the CPRs, including in relation to misleading copycat packaging design. OFT and Trading Standards Departments will have to act in a manner consistent with their duty to enforce the regulations. Indeed the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property notes that in this context the Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services have said that once the UCPD is in place they will act on behalf of consumers by pursuing businesses who act improperly.
	For this reason the Government do not propose to allow businesses to enforce the regulations. However, it will review the position three years after the regulations come into force.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Christmas

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much  (a) her Department and  (b) the Minister of State for Housing spent on (i) Christmas cards and (ii) postage of Christmas cards in 2007.

Parmjit Dhanda: Communities and Local Government spent £2,221.70 plus VAT on Christmas cards in 2007. The other information requested is not held separately.

Council Tax: Lone Parents

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department gives to local authorities on claims for single person discount for council tax from single parents whose children are serving with the armed forces.

John Healey: The Secretary of State for Defence announced on 25 September 2007 that service personnel on operational duty in Iraq or Afghanistan will receive a flat rate payment of £140 for a six-month tour of duty to help with the cost of their council tax and is equivalent to 25 per cent. of the average council tax bill for 2007-08.

Departmental Marketing

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what products featuring departmental or Government branding were procured by  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether any of her Department's special advisers have outside appointments.

Parmjit Dhanda: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract and Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, copies of which are in the Library of the House.

Departmental Recycling

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's policy is on recycling.

Parmjit Dhanda: The recycling policy for Communities and Local Government is:
	to meet the cross-government target of increasing the recycling rate to 40 per cent. of total waste arisings by 2010, which the Department has already met, and to increase the rate to 75 per cent. by 2020.
	to use resources more efficiently by following the waste management hierarchy; that is, to eliminate the requirement for resources where possible, to reduce consumption and to encourage re-use, to provide recycling and composting schemes wherever possible and to ensure any non-recyclable waste is disposed of by the most sustainable method available
	to ensure that
	i. all waste is dealt with according to the law and best practice guidance
	ii. key staff are trained in what the law and best practice demands
	iii. all staff are encouraged to adhere to the waste management hierarchy, avoiding waste production wherever possible, recycling all waste where facilities exist and only using general waste bins for non-recyclable waste

Departmental Recycling

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much and what proportion of its waste her Department recycled in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 December 2007,  Official Report, column 542W.

First Time Buyers: Wirral

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what types of Government support are available to first-time house buyers, with particular reference to the Wirral, West constituency.

Yvette Cooper: The Government are committed to supporting first time buyers. Support is available through the provision of affordable housing and low cost home ownership schemes such as the First Time Buyers Initiative.
	The First Time Buyers Initiative is part of the HomeBuy low-cost home-ownership scheme which the Government introduced in April 2006. This initiative targets key workers and other eligible groups that have sufficient income to sustain home ownership, but are currently prevented from entering the housing market.
	No figures are available specifically for Wirral, West constituency, however Wirral received in excess of £7 million from the Housing Corporation Affordable Housing Programme in the period 2004-07. This has resulted in 123 homes for low cost home ownership and 213 homes for social rent being made available. In addition, Wirral metropolitan borough council has secured approximately 300 affordable houses over the last two years in negotiations with developers.
	Following the recent Spending Review the increased Regional Housing Pot allocations for 2008-11 will deliver additional affordable housing across the region, for which Wirral have the opportunity to further increase the supply of affordable homes for sale.

Home Information Packs

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her  (a) ministers and  (b) officials had with the Plain English Campaign on home information packs; and whether the home information pack template was submitted to the Plain English Campaign for assessment.

Yvette Cooper: The Plain English Campaign was consulted by the Department on the home information pack forms (the home information pack index, sale statement, home use and home contents forms). All other documents in the home information pack are produced by bodies other than the Department.

Housing: Floods

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people she estimates will not have been able to return to their homes before Christmas Day 2007 as a result of damage from this year's floods.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many families remain unable to return to their homes following the 2007 summer flood damage.

John Healey: I wrote to the hon. Member on 19 December 2007. Since then further data have been provided by local authorities and as of early January around 9,150 households of the households originally affected remain displaced.
	I met with representatives of flood affect councils and the insurance industry on 10 December and agreed a package of concerted actions to help people still badly affected by the floods. Getting people back into their homes as quickly as possible is a Government priority and I announced on the 20 December that £1 million of extra funding will be made available to the small number of councils with a large number of households not yet back in their own homes after the floods:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/619896.

Housing: North West Region

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how the Government Office for the North West plans to ensure that bids from areas wishing to become housing growth points will provide  (a) enough affordable housing for purchase and  (b) enough housing for rent to meet the needs of the area.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 10 December 2007
	 The responsibility for assessing housing growth point expressions of interest rests with Communities and Local Government, with Government Office for the North West (GONW) providing support to this process. GONW has provided advice to local authorities on the issues that their area should be addressing in their expression of interest, including the need for affordable housing. The assessment exercise will ensure that these issues are appropriately considered.

Housing: North West Region

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the role of Government Office for the North West is in assessing bids for housing growth areas.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 10 December 2007
	 The responsibility for assessing housing growth point expressions of interest rests with the Department of Communities and Local Government, with Government Office for the North West (GONW) providing support to this process.
	Government Office North West's role has included articulating Government policy to regional stakeholders including local authorities, facilitating quality bids and assisting Communities and Local Government and other Government agencies to gain a full understanding of the local circumstances.
	In response to requests, GONW has organised an informal briefing session in the House, to which all hon. Members in relevant constituencies have been invited to attend.

Housing: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what occasions representatives of the Government Office for the North West (GONW) have met representatives of Warrington Borough Council to discuss future housing plans; who was present at each of these meetings; and what attempts have been made by GONW to discuss these issues with hon. Members representing the borough.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 10 December 2007
	 Representatives from Government Office for the North West (GONW) are in regular dialogue with local authorities regarding housing issues in the region.
	The GONW Housing Intervention team facilitates and attends various regional and sub-regional working groups to which local authorities are invited to field representatives. However, they have not had one to one meetings with Warrington borough council (BC) on specific housing related issues.
	Jo Lappin, Deputy Regional Director, Housing, Planning and Transport, has met with representatives from Warrington BC on a number of occasions since April 2007 as detailed in the following list, during these discussions the issue of housing in the borough was raised.
	Thursday 12 April—meeting with Diana Terris, Chief Executive
	Monday 12 November—meeting with Diana Terris, Chief Executive
	Friday 16 November—meeting with Andy Farrall, Strategic Director for Environment and Regeneration
	A meeting was also held with the North West Regional Minister on Monday 19 November to discuss economic growth in Warrington, during which housing was raised, attendees were as follows:
	Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, North West Regional Minister
	Jo Hawley, Private Secretary to Beverley Hughes MP
	Jo Lappin, Deputy Regional Director, Housing, Planning and Transport, GONW
	Diana Terris, Chief Executive of Warrington Borough Council (WBC)
	Cllr lan Marks, Leader of WBC (Lib Dem)
	Cllr Keith Bland, Deputy Leader of WBC (Conservative)
	Dr Robert Barr, Executive Member of WBC, Planning and Regeneration
	Cllr Terry O'Neil, Leader of the Labour Group at WBC (Labour)
	Andy Farrall, Strategic Director for Environment and Regeneration
	Peter Crompton, Director, BE Group
	Paul Hafren, Principal, Warrington Collegiate Institute
	Mike Ralph, Planning Director, Modus Properties
	Alan Charters, Construction Director, Miller Developments
	In response to requests, GONW has organised an informal briefing session in the House, to which all hon. Members in relevant constituencies have been invited to attend.

Judith Armitt

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what occasions Judith Armitt, the Thames Gateway Chief Executive, has visited Thurrock in an official capacity since her appointment; and for what purposes.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 20 November 2007
	Between November 2006 and November 2007, Judith Armitt, as Chief Executive of the Thames Gateway, visited Thurrock on the following occasions:
	 2006
	13 November—visit with Ruth Kelly to RSPB visitors' centre
	 2007
	15 February—Meeting with Leader of Thurrock council (n.b. although this meeting took place in Westminster, the original meeting would have been on 18 January in Thurrock, but was cancelled due to bad weather)
	26 March—Tour of Thurrock with Urban Development Corporation (UDC)
	29 March—Meeting at Thurrock UDC offices
	10 May—Meeting at Thurrock UDC offices
	23 May—Tour of Thames Gateway with Permanent Secretary
	31 May—Thurrock UDC Board meeting at their offices
	20 July—Meeting at Thurrock UDC offices
	10 September—Meeting at Thurrock UDC offices
	3 October—Tour of Thurrock with CABE
	5 November—Meeting in Southend with representatives from South Essex local regeneration partnerships followed by tour of the DP World London Gateway development at Shellhaven, Thurrock, with Yvette Cooper MP.

Labour Party: Elections

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she  (a) informed the Permanent Secretary in the relevant Department of the donations she received as part of her campaign for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party and  (b) registered them with the Cabinet Office in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Parmjit Dhanda: In accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, a list of Ministers' relevant interests declared to their permanent secretary will be published in due course.

Licensing Act 2003

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to require CON29 local authority searches to include information on licensing decisions, reviews, applications or enforcement action under the Licensing Act 2003.

Yvette Cooper: We have no plans to do so.

Local Government: Contracts

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will bring forward proposals to amend Part II (Public Supply or Works Contracts) of Chapter 9 of the Local Government Act 1988 to take account of the Government's commitment to fairness in competitive tendering arrangements under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.

John Healey: When contracting in circumstances where the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) are to be applied, best value authorities are permitted to take into account relevant workforce matters.
	The Local Government Best Value (Exclusion of Non-commercial Considerations) Order 2001 (SI 2001 No 909) made under Section 19 of the 'Local Government Act 1999' provides, in respect of best value authorities, for certain workforce matters set out in Part II of the Local Government Act 1988 to cease to be prohibited matters in the contractual process. This is to the extent that they are relevant to the achievement of best value and for the purposes of TUPE.

North Yorkshire Fire Service: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she has received on her consultation for the proposed future financial provision for the North Yorkshire Fire Service.

John Healey: We received a written representation from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, and my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda), met a delegation of members and officers from the authority on 8 January.

North Yorkshire Fire Service: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the financial settlement for the North Yorkshire Fire Service for 2008-09.

John Healey: I announced the proposed local government finance settlement to the House on 6 December 2007,  Official Report, column 981. The House will have the chance to debate the matter in due course.

Public Expenditure: Stroud

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department and its predecessors have spent in Stroud district since 2002, broken down by specific initiative.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Recycling: Christmas

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the effect on the level of recycling of Christmas-related waste; and what steps she has taken to assist local authorities in dealing with such recycling.

Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
	Based on a sample of 20 local authorities in 2005-06, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimates that 190,000 tonnes of additional recycling will take place in the UK as a result of waste generated because of Christmas.
	WRAP helps local authorities to promote recycling at Christmas through the Recycle Now programme, and works with the Woodland Trust to promote Christmas card recycling and the availability of dedicated collection points. The target for this year (2007-08) is to recycle 100 million Christmas cards.

Regional Development Agencies: Finance

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirements her Department has placed on regional development agencies in spending monies allocated via the single pot from her Department.

John Healey: Sponsorship of the regional development agencies (RDAs) rests with the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). However, Communities and Local Government works closely with BERR to agree the RDAs' tasking framework and to ensure that their corporate plans reflect the Department's priorities.

Thames Gateway: Internet

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department's webpage relating to Judith Armitt, Chief Executive of the Thames Gateway was last updated; and what alterations have been made to this web page since March.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 20 November 2007
	When the new Communities and Local Government website was re-launched on 28 August 2007, this web page was redesigned along with the rest of the site. However, the information remained the same. Pages relating to the Chief Executive were updated every few months.

Translation Services: Expenditure

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on translation costs by each London borough in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally.

Unitary Councils: Bedfordshire

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to submit the invitation to Bedfordshire County Council, Mid-Bedfordshire District Council and South Bedfordshire District Council to submit proposals for unitary government in the Mid-Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire districts.

John Healey: On 19 November 2007, we issued a further invitation to three Bedfordshire councils to submit proposals for the area covered by Mid-Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire district councils. In response, we received a joint proposal from Mid-Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire district councils on 14 December.
	On 19 December, we published a consultation paper, seeking views on this proposal. The consultation closes on 13 February 2008.

Unitary Councils: Exeter

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  when she will publish  (a) the assessment of the financial viability on the unitary council proposal submitted by Exeter City Council and  (b) the results of the further examination she ordered regarding the Exeter City Council bid;
	(2)  what advice she has received from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Investment Property Forum regarding the financial viability of the proposal for unitary status submitted by Exeter City Council.

John Healey: We received advice on the financial aspects of the unitary proposals submitted by Exeter city council from independent financial advisers we engaged through the Institute of Public Finance. We received no advice from the Investors Property Forum.
	This advice contributed to the decision that I announced on 5 December that we would not be proceeding with Exeter city's proposals for unitary status because, having made a reasonable estimate of the costs and savings that would be likely to occur as a result of restructuring, we believe that the pay back period would be more that the five years specified by the established affordability criterion.
	I have no plans to publish the advice we received and the financial assessment of the Exeter city council's unitary proposals.

Urban Areas: Sustainable Development

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what plans she has for special planning procedures to be used in determining planning applications for eco-town developments;
	(2)  whether the eco-town schemes will be determined by  (a) new towns legislation and  (b) mini reviews of regional spatial strategies; and what mechanisms will be used to judge the relative merits of competing proposals.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 16 January 2008,  Official Report, column 1262W, and the answer given to the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff) on 14 January 2008,  Official Report, column 918W.

Urban Areas: Sustainable Development

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether it is Government policy that any proposed eco-towns should be treated as counting towards Government house building targets.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff) on 3 December 2007,  Official Report, column 882W.

Urban Areas: Sustainable Development

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what local consultation processes she plans on the location of eco-town developments;
	(2)  what role local authorities will have on the process to select eco-town sites.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff) on 14 January 2008,  Official Report, columns 919-20W.

Written Questions

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  when she will reply to Question 165128, on her Department's website tabled by the hon. Member for Thurrock on 13 November 2007;
	(2)  when she will reply to question 165125, on Judith Armitt, tabled by the hon. Member for Thurrock on 13 November 2007.

Yvette Cooper: I have now replied to my hon. Friend's questions.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the Statement by the Prime Minister of 12 December 2007,  Official Report, column 304, on Afghanistan, what plans his Department has to recruit and deploy specialists who speak Afghan languages and understand tribal dynamics.

Douglas Alexander: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's statement referred to plans made specifically by the FCO to recruit more specialists who speak Afghan languages and understand tribal dynamics. The FCO is currently looking at various options for recruiting and deploying such specialists. It is also training its political officers in local languages and is looking at how the UK-based Afghan diaspora might help contribute to reconstruction in Afghanistan.
	DFID Afghanistan does, however, recognise the importance of these skills for work in the south of Afghanistan and is talking to the FCO, MOD and Stabilisation Unit about the future staffing of Helmand, which will include provision of such specialists.
	DFID is also already working with organisations which have expertise in both areas. These include the Tribal Liaison Office (an Afghan NGO) which deploys a network of Afghan tribal experts across the southern provinces and a number of long-standing Afghanistan academic experts. These experts help inform the design and implementation of elements of DFID conflict prevention and governance programmes using both their knowledge of tribal dynamics and their Dari or Pashto language skills with the local population. DFID is also funding the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies (an Afghan NGO) to conduct tribal analysis and mapping to inform their work within each province.

Carbon Trust

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has for his Department to participate in the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management programme over the next 12 months.

Shahid Malik: The Department for International Development has already signed up to the Carbon Trust (CT) Energy Efficiency Programme. The CT advised DFID that this programme was more appropriate for the size of our estate. We have also achieved accreditation under the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme (EEAS).

Departmental Carbon Emissions

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department met its target to reverse the upward trend in its carbon emissions by April 2007.

Shahid Malik: The Department for International Development is strongly committed to reversing the upward trend in carbon emissions. As a Department, we have undergone significant growth in recent years, and this has resulted in increases in our carbon emissions from DFID operations. We did, however, achieve a small overall reduction in kWh usage for 2006-07, relative to 2005-06 before weather correction. Allowing for weather correction, the increase was 1 per cent. over the previous year, the smallest increase since the baseline year of 1999-2000. We are investigating further investment to reduce our carbon emissions further.

Departmental Energy Supply

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department will meet its commitment to  (a) source at least 10 per cent. of its electricity from renewables by 31 March 2008 and  (b) recycle figures to 40 per cent. of its waste by 2010.

Shahid Malik: The Department for International Development has already met the targets for renewable electricity and for recycling waste. From 2004-06, over 90 per cent. of DFID electricity was derived from renewable sources and this figure increased in January 2007 to 100 per cent. renewable for our UK offices. During 2005, DFID changed waste contractors at both UK offices. The new waste contractors guarantee they recycle over 75 per cent. of all waste and produce monthly reports with breakdowns of the various waste streams.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether any of his Department's special advisers also work for organisations outside his Department.

Douglas Alexander: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the 'Model Contract' and 'Code of Conduct for Special Advisers', copies of which are in the Library of the House.

Departmental Public Buildings

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department is working towards accreditation of its environmental management systems under  (a) ISO 14001,  (b) the EU eco management and audit scheme and  (c) other certified schemes in respect of (i) the Department's whole estate and (ii) individual buildings within its estate.

Shahid Malik: The Department for International Development has already established Environment Management Systems (EMS) in both UK offices, based on the principles of the ISO 14001 standard. We are currently working towards formal accreditation at both offices.

Developing Countries: Water

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions his Department has had with other governments about placing the issues of water and sanitation on the agenda of the forthcoming G8 meeting.

Gareth Thomas: The G8 summit in Japan is an important opportunity to galvanise greater action on water and sanitation, particularly since 2008 is the UN's International Year of Sanitation. As the largest bilateral donor in the sector, Japan has already identified water and sanitation as one of the key issues under its presidency. We welcome this. The UK worked hard throughout 2007 with Japan to raise the profile of water and sanitation, and will continue to do so during 2008. In particular we are pressing for a G8 commitment to a revised and strengthened Evian Water Action Plan (agreed at the 2003 summit).
	The first preparatory meeting of representatives of the Heads of State was held in Tokyo on 10 and 11 January. They discussed water and sanitation in the context of climate change and the environment, and through its links to health. The next meeting will be in March. In the interim we will continue to work closely with our Japanese colleagues to ensure water and sanitation remain high on the summit agenda.

Dyncorp International

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contracts his Department holds with Dyncorp International.

Gareth Thomas: DFID has no record of current or previous contracts with Dyncorp International.

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what changes the Government plans to make to the DfID-Pakistan Country Programme following recent events in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: While work for some months has been under way to develop a new Country Assistance Plan, DFID is now considering the implications of recent events for its development assistance in Pakistan.

Palestinians: EU Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in what languages the International Donors Conference for the Palestinian State held in Paris on 17 December 2007 has published its  (a) working papers,  (b) final statement and  (c) pledges.

Shahid Malik: The International Donors Conference was hosted and organised by the French Government in Paris. The speeches and declarations that were made on the day, the final statement and the pledges are available on the website of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The final statement and pledges are available in French and English, and the final statement is additionally available in Dutch. There were no working papers for this conference.

Palestinians: EU Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which multinational organisation has responsibility for co-ordinating the implementation of the pledges of the donor groups according to their nature as specified in the final statement of the International Donors Conference for the Palestinian State held in Paris on 17 December 2007.

Shahid Malik: A donor co-ordination mechanism, with a secretariat in Ramallah, was set-up following the London Ad Hoc Liaison Committee conference in 2005. This continues to provide practical coordination on the ground.
	At the Paris donor conference the UK supported the establishment of a more effective monitoring mechanism. We believe this should not only cover pledges by donors, but also progress by Israelis and Palestinians in creating the conditions necessary for aid to be effective. Unfortunately, no such mechanism was agreed at the Paris conference. We continue to call on international partners to agree a monitoring mechanism.

Palestinians: Foreign Trade

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of changes made over the last 12 months to the operation of the back-to-back system introduced by Israel for transporting goods within the West Bank and between the West Bank and Israel; what assessment he has made of the impact of the system on  (a) speed with which Palestinian goods can be transported and  (b) costs of transportation; and what representations he is making on the subject.

Shahid Malik: There are currently six back-to-back crossings for commercial goods between the West Bank and Israel, and one internal back-to-back crossing in Nablus.
	Transportation times have increased as goods must be unloaded and loaded at each crossing, and in some cases, goods must take a longer route to use a specified crossing. Restrictions are in place on the opening hours and capacity of the crossings. These factors have contributed to an increase in transportation costs.
	DFID is supporting a World Bank study to quantify the additional transport costs these restrictions create. The study will also investigate alternate trade corridors to and from the West Bank.

Palestinians: Small Businesses

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the likely impact on the development of Palestinian small and medium-sized businesses of the proposed creation of industrial zones near the Green Line between Israel and Palestine promoting economic co-operation between Israel and Palestine.

Shahid Malik: The UK Government believe that the proposed industrial zones can help economic recovery given the right conditions. However, the capacity of the six Israel-West Bank crossings will need to be sufficient for processing both the eventual industrial estate traffic and existing trade, including by small and medium businesses. The World Bank is currently assessing the capacity of those crossings and we hope this will clarify whether any of the crossings will be a bottleneck for trade.

Palestinians: Small Businesses

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps have been taken since November 2007 to implement the provisions of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access in respect of the Palestinian Territories; and what assessment he has made of the impact such steps had on the ability of Palestinian businesses to trade  (a) within the West Bank and Gaza,  (b) between the West Bank and Gaza and  (c) internationally.

Shahid Malik: No steps have been taken since November 2007 to implement the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access. Movement and access remains the main constraint on the ability of Palestinian businesses to trade within, between and outside the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This was the conclusion of both the UK-funded World Bank's Investment Climate Assessment in March 2007 and the UK Government's report on the "Economic Aspects of Peace in the Middle East" of September 2007.
	The UK Government continue to call on Israel to fulfil their obligations on Movement and Access. The Palestinian Authority also has obligations to improve security. We hope that progress will be made as part of the peace process started at Annapolis.

Solomon Islands: Overseas Aid

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what  (a) UK and  (b) EU aid is planned to be provided to the Solomon Islands in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what aid programmes the UK sponsors in the Solomon Islands; and how much funding was provided for each programme in each year it has been running;
	(3)  how much aid the UK gave to the Solomon Islands in each of the last 10 years; and what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's  (a) work and  (b) expenditure in the Solomon Islands.

Gareth Thomas: DFID is currently developing detailed plans for allocating its budget over the three-year period 2008-09 to 2010-11 following the outcome of the comprehensive spending review announced in October. Individual country and regional allocations will not be finalised until March 2008.
	Under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF10) the EU have committed to spend €13.2 million on development activities in the Solomon Islands. Indicative annual totals are €0.8 million in 2008, €11.2 million in 2009 and €1.2 million in 2010. In addition, the Solomon Islands may receive small amounts of funding from thematic lines within the Development Cooperation Instrument of the EU Budget; commitments against these lines are made by theme and not for specific countries.
	The UK does not currently have any bilateral aid programmes in the Solomon Islands but does provide a small amount of support in the form of pensions for ex-colonial employees. The UK does provide bilateral aid to the Pacific region and multilateral assistance to a range of organisations, some of which may be used for development activities in the Solomon Islands.
	Details of the UK's bilateral assistance and imputed multilateral assistance to Solomon Islands over the last 10 years are laid out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: UK total bilateral gross public expenditure on development 1997-98 to 2006-07 
			   Solomon Islands (£000) 
			 1997-98 14,934 
			 1998-99 813 
			 1999-2000 719 
			 2000-01 437 
			 2001-02 458 
			 2002-03 567 
			 2003-04 462 
			 2004-05 376 
			 2005-06 273 
			 2006-07 91 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Imputed UK share of multilateral official development assistance (ODA) 1996-2005 
			   Solomon Islands (£000) 
			 1996 618 
			 1997 335 
			 1998 1,150 
			 1999 556 
			 2000 3,785 
			 2001 2,962 
			 2002 386 
			 2003 288 
			 2004 268 
			 2005 1,676 
		
	
	As part of the DFID performance management system for its bilateral portfolio, DFID evaluates its projects effectiveness on an annual basis, and once projects are complete. DFID contacts all its overseas pension recipients on an annual basis to ensure they still qualify for their pensions.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Adding It Up

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the total cost of the Adding It Up implementation group was in each of the last five years; and how many  (a) civil servants,  (b) special advisers and  (c) other staff worked in the group in each of those years.

Andy Burnham: I have been asked to reply.
	The 'Adding It Up' implementation group held its final meeting in July 2002. The group has therefore resulted in no direct costs over the past five years. The Government continue to improve the use of evidence and quality of analysis underpinning policy making with the 'Adding It Up' agenda mainstreamed within Departments.

National Youth Volunteering Programme

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the total budget of the National Youth Volunteering Programme is for 2007-08; how much is allocated to London; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: In November 2007 the independent charity v announced that over this comprehensive spending review period, they are investing £75 million in the National Youth Volunteering Programme. The allocation for London is approximately £8.5 million. A further £6 million will cover national and multi-regional projects that could include London.